Tim Melia’s storybook start his career in Kansas City continued on Sunday.
The sixth-year veteran delivered another standout performance in a 1-0 road win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC, matching a career-high with six saves and becoming the first goalkeeper in MLS history to earn shutouts in six of his first nine starts with a new team.
Melia took Team of the Week honors from MLSsoccer.com, Bleacher Report and SI.com after making a handful of impressive stops at BC Place, including a diving save to deny Kendall Waston of an equalizer in second-half stoppage time.
““Tim was fantastic,” manager Peter Vermes said after the match. “What an unbelievable save he makes on that set piece [in second-half stoppage time]. It’s a world-class save. The guy was a monster today.”
Joining Melia among MLSsoccer.com’s best players in Week 19 was fellow BurgerFi Man of the Match candidate Soni Mustivar. The defensive midfielder bossed the center of the pitch to the tune of 19 interceptions and 17 recoveries. In doing so, he tied the single-game interception record for a single MLS match during the Opta era (2011-present) while ranking second all-time in the single-game recoveries category.
Melia and Mustivar may have been the stars of Sunday night, but Sporting KC’s clean sheet saw sterling defensive displays at every position. Saad Abdul-Salaam, making his first career MLS start, landed a spot on Bleacher Report’s Team of the Week after recording eight interceptions, six tackles and three clearances against a Whitecaps side that applied heavy offensive pressure all evening.
Sporting KC is just two points out of first place in the Western Conference with at least two games in hand on all teams above them in the standings. Vermes’ men return to league action Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT when they host the Montreal Impact at Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets for the match are available at Ticketmaster.com.
