Here’s a Cliffs Notes version of Sporting Kansas City’s month of August.
Four games played, four wins, four clean sheets for goalkeeper Tim Melia and four goals for striker Diego Rubio.
Sporting KC put the finishing touches on a perfect month with Saturday’s 2-0 defeat of Minnesota United FC, using second-half strikes from Rubio and Yohan Croizet to move within a point of first-place FC Dallas in the Western Conference.
The result also gave Manager Peter Vermes’ men their fourth successive shutout win — all coming since the start of August — and while numerous players have contributed vitally during the hot streak, arguably none have stood out quite like Melia and Rubio.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper and 25-year-old forward have both made strong cases for MLS Player of the Month honors, helping the side to its first perfect month in club history with a minimum of four matches played.
Melia didn’t allow a single goal across four matches in August. He posted a perfect 4-0-0 record and saved all 18 shots he faced, including eight stops in Saturday’s win over Minnesota. Melia leads MLS with 11 clean sheets this season, and his current 376-minute shutout streak is the league’s fourth-longest in 2018.
Following last weekend’s 3-0 victory over Portland, Melia became the eighth MLS all-time to record 10 shutouts in back-to-back regular seasons. He made more history on Saturday against the Loons, joining club greats Tony Meola and Jimmy Nielsen as the only Sporting KC goalkeepers to notch four clean sheets in a single month.
Rubio, meanwhile, was involved in six of Sporting KC’s eight goals throughout August with four goals and two assists. He was tied as the league’s top goals scorer during the month and currently boasts a stat line that places him among the most efficient attackers in MLS.
Boasting seven goals and five assists in 520 minutes of MLS action this season, Rubio continues to lead the league with 1.21 goals per 90 minutes. Similarly, his 58.3 scoring percentage (seven goals on 12 shots) is the third-best single-season mark in MLS history.
