With Melia back in goal, Sporting KC faces Wondo’s San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday
Twenty-year-old goalkeeper John Pulskamp acted as a fine deputy for Tim Melia in Sporting Kansas City’s first five games. He was the last line of defense for two KC wins and made a handful of game-saving stops, conceding seven goals en route to a 2-1-2 record.
But he’d yet to record a clean sheet in Major League Soccer, allowing goals in all five games, including three at Real Salt Lake.
In turn, that meant Sporting Kansas City had yet to record a clean sheet in 2021 — the stalwart Melia, injured, hadn’t played a minute all year.
That changed Sunday afternoon as Melia resumed competition against Vancouver following a chest injury and subsequent recovery period.
He was only required to make two saves in a game KC controlled heavily and wound up winning 3-0, but Melia recorded both — and, in turn, he and his club finally had that elusive first clean sheet of 2021.
“Tim is hugely important for us in the team,” centerback Andreu Fontas said. “I think John did a great job, but we know Tim, he’s great and we’re very happy to have him back.”
Indeed, the reintroduction of Melia to the starting lineup is huge for Sporting Kansas City. After all, Sporting hasn’t had the healthiest backline to start the season.
Graham Zusi is continuing to return to full fitness following foot surgery, Amadou Dia is yet to make an appearance, and first-choice centerback Nicolas Isimat-Mirin and backup Roberto Puncec have been dealing with injuries of their own.
Getting the experienced Melia onto the field was a huge jump toward full strength for KC.
“The goalkeeper position out of the whole, when you step back and look at it, is more about consistency, I would say,” Melia said.
And Melia has been a model on consistency. From the start of the 2017 season to the end of 2020, he’d missed just six regular-season games, goiing a perfect 34-for-34 in 2018.
“I do think that the consistency of a goalkeeper in a team is an anchor back there,” he said. “(He) needs to provide that confidence for the other players.”
The veteran goalkeeper enjoyed an easy ride against Vancouver in his return, but the challenges keep on coming. On Saturday, KC travels to the Bay Area to face the San Jose Earthquakes.
The 34-year-old will have to contend with another MLS mainstay that day, in 38-year-old striker Chris Wondolowski.
“He’s timeless at the moment and he’s just so good at what he does,” Melia said. “He just finds little pockets, he finds space on the back stick, and he always seems to score the most important goals for that club.”
MLS’s all-time leading goalscorer, Wondolowski has already scored a couple of important goals for San Jose this season. Two weeks ago, he came on as a 72nd-minute substitute against Salt Lake and scored 83rd- and 87th-minute goals to lift the Quakes to a dramatic 2-1 win.
“He always finds a way to be in the right place, and that’s a quality that no one taught him — it’s a quality that he has,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said. “Utmost respect for him.”
Speaking Thursday, Vermes also briefly addressed the rumored departure of SKC captain Johnny Russell. English tabloids have linked Russell to Fulham, Sheffield United and Newcastle. The Scotsman’s current contract coming to an end at the end of the 2021 season.
“I’ll just say it this way: Johnny is an important player in the team, just like all the other guys are,” Vermes said. “I’m not going to discuss internal decisions and timings of things. Obviously, Johnny is an important player — like I said, like everybody else.
“We’re playing right now; we’ll deal with those things as time permits.”
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 3:19 PM with the headline "With Melia back in goal, Sporting KC faces Wondo’s San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday."