Sporting Kansas City trio preserves clean sheet on wild corner
Photo credit: Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City escaped its season opener at D.C. United with a point from a scoreless draw. Truth be told, SKC might’ve been the better side Saturday, dominating possession and out-shooting the hosts 15 to nine. But the strong performance by the visitors certainly wasn’t lacking in the heroics department, either.
During an insane second-half sequence off a D.C. corner, multiple SKC teammates worked together at the goal line to preserve the clean sheet in jaw-dropping fashion.
Lloyd Sam started the play by serving in the ball to the near post, where two SKC players got tangled up in an effort to make a clearance. It resulted in an accidental slip header by SKC midfielder Roger Espinoza that seemed destined to be an own goal.
Sure enough, there was SKC forward Jimmy Medranda — staying true to his far-post responsibilities — to avert danger at the line with his head. Well, temporarily; the highlights were just getting started.
The ball trickled over to D.C. United defender Nick DeLeon, who lobbed a volley on frame only to be denied by Sporting KC striker Dom Dwyer’s head at the other post. No wonder coaches teach players at a young age not to leave the posts until the ball is completely cleared.
After a short clearance, SKC quickly stepped its defense up to catch the remaining attackers offside, but sly midfielder Jared Jeffrey lingered level with the back line. As a floated pass dropped in behind the defense, Jeffrey found himself one-v-one with SKC goalkeeper Tim Melia.
Not to be outdone by Medranda and Dwyer, Melia fully extended to make a spectacular save to his left on Jeffrey’s header. The parry out of bounds finally put the visitors out of harm’s way. Here it is courtesy of Fox Sports Kansas City and SKC’s Twitter feed:
THIS SEQUENCE WAS BONKERS! #DCvSKC https://t.co/WvSXIg7SCN
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) March 5, 2017
As if the three consecutive saves didn’t make the clean sheet impressive enough, Melia also made a penalty save on Marcelo Sarvas’ 17th-minute spot kick followed by an immediate save on Patrick Mullins’ rebound attempt.
“Unfortunately I gave the PK away so it was my responsibility to save it,” Melia told SportingKC.com’s Jillian Carroll. “But I think overall the game was a really positive thing.”
Nothing short of a monsoon could’ve moved the ball into the back of the Sporting Kansas City net Saturday.
You can follow Kevin on Twitter @KJboxing.
