American De La Torre Scores Goal, Has Hand in 2 More in Fulham's League Cup Win
American Luca De La Torre made the most of his rare chance with Fulham's first team on Tuesday.
De La Torre, 20, scored the first first-team goal of his professional career and had a hand in two other goals as Fulham progressed in the League Cup with a 3-1 win over Millwall.
The San Diego native helped Fulham open the scoring in the seventh minute, setting up Joe Bryan for the opener by slipping him a pass to the left. De La Torre doubled the lead seven minutes into the second half with a calm finish inside the box. After scoring seven goals over the last few years for Fulham's U-23s, De La Torre notched his first on the senior level with the strike that made it 2-0.
Millwall pulled one back in the 61st minute, but De La Torre set up Cyrus Christie's long-range blast for Fulham's third, restoring the two-goal lead and adding to his impressive day before exiting in the 85th minute.
The match was De La Torre's 10th with the first team, with half coming in the League Cup and the other half coming in England's second tier over the last three years. He's yet to make an appearance for the Cottagers in the Premier League. U.S. center back Tim Ream also featured in the win, going the first 62 minutes as Fulham advanced to the round of 16.
You can read more about De La Torre's start at Fulham in Brian Straus's 2014 SI.com feature on young Americans cultivating the next generation of U.S. talent at the club, following in the footsteps of Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra, among others.
