Sporting Kansas City's first MLS away win of the season—and its first shutout since mid-March—probably wouldn't have come to fruition without key contributions from a trio of players.
Following standout performances in a 1-0 victory at Columbus Crew SC on Sunday, Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia, defender Botond Barath and winger Gerso Fernandes received MLS Team of the Week nods. Melia was selected to Week 16's Best XI, while Barath and Gerso earned spots on the Team of the Week bench.
Melia, registering his first road shutout of the MLS campaign, produced four vital saves over the course of 90 minutes at MAPFRE Stadium. His reflex stops to deny Hector Jimenez and Harrison Afful kept Sporting level going into the break, and after Felipe Gutierrez nodded the visitors ahead in the 48th minute, Melia did brilliantly to thwart Robinho and David Guzman in quick succession near the hour mark.
Barath was resolute in central defense alongside captain Matt Besler and later in tandem with Andreu Fontas, who replaced Besler after 61 minutes. The Hungarian recorded game-highs in clearances (seven) and interceptions (three) while winning four aerial duels and completing 45 of his 52 passes.
Gerso was the main man responsible for Sporting's goal early in the second half, keeping the ball in play along the endline before nutmegging his defender and serving a delightful cross to Gutierrez for the simplest of headed finishes. The diminutive forward created two scoring chances, won six duels, racked up six recoveries and had a game-high eight touches in the opponent's penalty area.
Eighth-place Sporting (4-5-7, 19 points) will aim to secure a second straight victory this Saturday, rounding out a five-game road swing against seventh-place Real Salt Lake (6-8-2, 20 points) at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The contest will kick off at 9 p.m. CT, with three hours of live coverage beginning at 8:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO. Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM will also air local radio broadcasts, with The Final Whistle postgame show immediately following on 810 WHB.
