Christian Pulisic scores accidental beauty in Borussia Dortmund victory

April 9 (UPI) -- United States Men's National Team star Christian Pulisic scored a sensational goal for Borussia Dortmund in a German Bundesliga win against VfB Stuttgart.

He netted the score in the 38th minute of the 3-0 victory Sunday at Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany.

Stuttgart and Dortmund played a scoreless first half until the 19-year-old from Hershey, Pa. decided to make an impact. The midfielder gained control of the ball after receiving a pass from defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos. Pulisic sprinted toward the box with the ball on his laces. He then shifted his body and sent in what appeared to be a long cross.

But the feed kept sailing -- going over the hand of a leaping Roman Burki -- and eventually found the upper corner of the far-post netting for the first goal of the game.

"I was looking for the back post, just for a cross," Pulisic told reporters after the win. "It came off my foot a little wrong but it wasn't so wrong in the end. It was a bit lucky but I'm happy it went in. When I saw it go in I just couldn't really believe it. I couldn't really celebrate; I didn't know what to do."

Dortmund took the 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. Michy Batshuayi and Maximillian Philipp scored goals in the 48th and 59th minute, respectively, to seal the win.

"It was very important to open the scoring while we were on top," Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin said after the match, according to the team website.

"Even if, as I believe, Christian didn't connect with it properly -- we'll happily take it. It was better after that, even if it wasn't a standout match. Following the 6-0 in Munich, in which both the defeat and the margin were deserved, you're naturally a bit heavy-legged and thoughts go through your head. In order to restore mental freshness, you perhaps sometimes need to get a goal like that to get up and running again. In the end we deserved to win. That said, it's a fact that there are lots of things that need to improve. Our performance in the second half was a step in the right direction but it wasn't entirely optimal. Now we need to see out the last five matches of the season and, in the best-case scenario, finish in second position. We'll need everyone for that. Not just the players, but every single fan. Once it's over, we'll conduct a hard-hitting analysis of our season."

Pulisic's crew battles Schalke 04 at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.