After starting gangbusters with four goals and three assists during the month of March, Wayne Rooney's season has cooled off a bit. The former Manchester United man was humbled in the 4-0 home defeat to LAFC FC two weeks ago in which he was sent off, and then, after battling the flu, he went goalless in last week's 3-2 win in Colorado.
Sunday (4 p.m. ET, ESPN) presents a good opportunity to get back in the scoring swing of things against New York City FC, and it's hard not to think that Rooney will be feeling inspired. Being the golf aficionado that he is, Rooney took advantage of D.C. United's scheduling last weekend to zip down to Augusta, Georgia, to catch the final round of the Masters and watch Tiger Woods claim his first green jacket since 2005. Like Tiger, Rooney's best days arguably came in the middle of the last decade, but the greats are still capable of summoning their best when called upon and the NYCFC defense should help the Englishman with that.
Domenec Torrent's bunch have given up 11 goals and are the only winless team in the Eastern Conference. It's been a rough week for teams owned by Sheikh Mansour, and while a regular-season loss for NYCFC would register as just a blip after Manchester City's devastating Champions League exit, Torrent's job security would be tenuous at best.
Autore: Stefano Bentivogli
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