Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia had quite the week.
First, the 29-year-old backstop led his team to a shootout victory in the US Open Cup final at Philadelphia, stopping a pair of penalties to help the club lift their third trophy in four years.
Melia brought his hot form into MLS play three days later, one-upping himself with a spectacular performance at the Portland Timbers on Saturday night. He was immense against the Timbers, turning in six saves and registering a shutout — his eighth of the season — to power SKC to a huge 1-0 win at Providence Park.
The performance was enough to vault SKC back into the Supporters’ Shield race, keep the club well above the red line in the Western Conference and earn Melia Player of the Week honors from North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 31 of the MLS season.
Melia was a one-man highlight reel in Portland, stopping Timbers playmaker Diego Valeri in the 27th minute. The Argentine launched a howitzer from the left side of the box that was destined for the top-right corner of the net, but Melia sprawled out and punched it to safety (watch save). Later, in the 44th minute, Valeri smashed another screamer from the left side of the box that Melia was again able to deflect out of danger (watch save).
In the 35th minute, Melia robbed the Timbers of another prime scoring chance, this time with a fully-extended effort to reel in a curling shot from Darlington Nagbe (watch save).
Melia and Sporting will return to action next Friday, Oct. 16, when they head to Avaya Stadium to take on the San Jose Earthquakes (11 pm ET, UniMas).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a panel of journalists from NASR. The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
