There was a changing of the guard in D.C. on July 12 as former Manchester and D.C. United star Wayne Rooney took over head coach responsibilities from interim head coach Chad Ashton. Rooney inherited a squad in last place in the Eastern Conference and began making moves in the MLS Secondary Transfer window. The club has added talent such as forward Miguel Berry and defender Julian Gressel along with Ochoa in goal.
Tuesday’s visitors are headlined by forward Taxiarchis Fountas who paces the club at 11 goals. He has been sidelined for the last three matches while in concussion protocol. In those three matches, D.C. has failed to score twice as Fountas leads the team in shots with 78, 43 more than the next highest player, Ola Kamara. Despite exponentially fewer shots than Fountas, Kamara has been able to find the back of the net nine times this season, including the first goal in a 2-1 win at NYCFC. If Fountas is available, Sporting’s defense along with Pulskamp will look to stifle the first-year Designated Player from Greece. If not, Kamara will have to be slowed down as he then becomes the target man.
