Christian Pulisic scored in the 90th minute for Chelsea.

Today’s definition of patience is Christian Pulisic.

Sitting on the Chelsea bench for some 70 minutes of its UEFA Champions League match against Zenit St. Petersburg, the U.S. national team midfielder helped turn the encounter more in the visitors’ favor.

A Pulisic shot was handled by a Krasnodar player, which turned into a penalty kick before the 22-year-old standout tallied later on as the Blue registered a 4-0 win.

Pulisic came on in the 71st minute, replacing Callum Hudson-Odoi in the 71st minute. His presence in the lineup boosted the Blues’ attack at Krasnodar Stadium.

Only five minutes later, Pulisic sent a shot that hit the arm of Krasnodar captain Aleksandr Martynovich. A handball and a penalty kick was called. Timo Werner took the ensuing spot kick a minute later, drilling a shot into the upper left corner for a 2-0 lead.

The Hershey, Pa. native then scored his first goal of the season off a counterattack in the 90th minute. While slidng to the ground, Pulisic placed an eight-yard shot on the right side of the area between the legs of goalkeeper Matvei Safonov for a 3-0 advantage.

That goal equaled former USMNT standout DaMarcus Beasley’s record for the  U.S.all-time UCL scoring lead as both players have four goals each.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.