Goalkeeper Tim Melia posts shutout as Sporting KC beats New York Red Bulls 2-0

The low point came in November 2014.

Tim Melia was sitting in his Los Angeles home when he received a call-up to D.C. United, which offered him a spot on the roster for a match against the New York Red Bulls. In fewer than 24 hours, though, he was released from the agreement before ever donning a jersey.

Seventeen months later, Melia made a long-awaited appearance in goal against his home-state team.

He didn’t waste it.

Melia posted a hard-earned shutout, leading Sporting Kansas City to a 2-0 victory Saturday at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.

On a night in which Sporting Kansas City had to replace half its back line because of injuries, Melia made six saves, one of them on a penalty kick against the league’s best scorer over the last two seasons.

“He made quite a few game-saving saves, (even) outside of the penalty kick,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said in a phone interview. “There was no doubt he was the man of the match.”

Sporting Kansas City, 4-1-0, ended a six-match winless streak against the Red Bulls — its longest such streak against any MLS team — and bounced back from a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake last week.

“I thought it was a really important reaction from us after last week’s result,” Melia said.

“This is a really difficult place to come in and play. It’s a huge win.”

Benny Feilhaber opened the scoring in the 17th minute with the second left-footed goal of his career. Dom Dwyer ignited the build-up when his pass freed Graham Zusi into space, and Zusi whipped a pass to an unmarked Feilhaber.

Dwyer’s goal extended the margin to 2-0 in the 60th minute.

New York had a golden opportunity to climb back into the match when Sporting KC defender Ike Opara was whistled for a hand ball in the box, awarding the Red Bulls a penalty kick.

Melia decided otherwise.

He stoned the ensuing attempt from Bradley Wright-Phillips, the league’s leading goal scorer over the last two seasons.

“He’s a very good striker who always seems to find himself in really good spots,” Melia said.

“I just came out on top tonight.”

Melia made four saves on Wright-Phillips, taking charge of a defensive group that finished as a makeshift combination.

Already playing without captain defender Matt Besler, Sporting Kansas City lost two more defenders during the match.

Kevin Ellis departed in the first half because of an apparent leg injury after colliding with Wright-Phillips. That brought Opara onto the field for his first MLS appearance since an Achilles’ injury last April.

Chance Myers left only 5 minutes into the second half because of a left hamstring injury.

“I’m really happy for Ike because his introduction into the game actually winded up being at a great moment. They started really banging a lot of balls into the box, and that was an important aspect for us to have someone in there who was going to be able to counter that.,” Vermes said, citing Opara’s aerial presence.

Saturday’s summary

SPORTING KANSAS CITY 2

RED BULLS 0

KANSAS CITY: Tim Melia, Nuno Coelho, Chance Myers (Saad Abdul-Salaam, 52nd), Amadou Dia, Lawrence Olum, Kevin Ellis (Ike Opara, 42nd), Connor Hallisey, Benny Feilhaber, Graham Zusi, Roger Espinoza (Jimmy Medranda, 90th+), Dom Dwyer.

NEW YORK: Luis Robles, Connor Lade, Karl Ouimette, Chris Duvall, Sacha Kljestan (Shaun Wright-Phillips, 75th), Sal Zizzo, Lloyd Sam (Anatole Abang, 65th), Dax McCarty (Alex Muyl, 85th), Sean Davis, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Mike Grella.

GOAL SCORING

Kansas City: 1, Feilhaber 2 (Zusi, Dwyer), 17th minute. 2, Dwyer 3 (Abdul-Salaam), 60th. New York: No scoring.

YELLOW CARDS

Kansas City: Espinoza, 74th.

New York: Zizzo, 44th.

RED CARDS

Kansas City: None.

New York: None.

OFFICIALS

Referee: Fotis Bazakos.

Assistant Referees: Eric Boria.

Assistant Referees: Craig Lowry.

4th Official: Rubiel Vazquez.

Attendance: 21,406

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 8:15 PM with the headline "Goalkeeper Tim Melia posts shutout as Sporting KC beats New York Red Bulls 2-0."