It was one of the upsets of the season thus far, and it left Montreal Impact coach Marco Schällibaum calling the Columbus Crew his team's version of kryptonite. And it may have started at the feet of genius playmaker Federico Higuaín, but it finished with the head of veteran defender Chad Marshall.
Marshall may have had an ugly moment in that 2-1 win at Stade Saputo – an early miscommunication with goalkeeper Matt Lampson that let Marco Di Vaio, No. 2 on this list, head home his league-leading 18th goal of the season. But he made up for it later with a clinical, towering header and his usual stellar defensive performance and his organization of the backline. For his efforts, he earned the top spot in this week's Castrol Index.
While Marshall had the best individual showing of the weekend (by the numbers), there's no question that the Seattle Sounders were the big winners from a team perspective. Their 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake on Friday night was a study in dominance, and as a result they put four different players – including MLS Player of the Week Obafemi Martins – in the top 20.
See how players collect points in the Castrol methodology here.
Castrol Index Week 29 Top 20 Performers
Rank |
Player |
Position |
Team |
Minutes |
Opponent |
Points |
1 |
Chad Marshall |
Defender |
Columbus Crew |
90 |
Montreal Impact |
1,616 |
2 |
Marco Di Vaio |
Forward |
Montreal Impact |
90 |
Columbus Crew |
1,589 |
3 |
Luis Robles |
Goalkeeper |
New York Red Bulls |
90 |
Toronto FC |
1,403 |
4 |
Robbie Keane |
Forward |
LA Galaxy |
90 |
D.C. United |
1,280 |
5 |
Juan Luis Anangono |
Forward |
Chicago Fire |
71 |
New England Revolution |
1,269 |
6 |
David Ousted |
Goalkeeper |
Vancouver Whitecaps |
90 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
1,254 |
7 |
Lamar Neagle |
Midfielder |
Seattle Sounders FC |
90 |
Real Salt Lake |
1,158 |
8 |
Thierry Henry |
Forward |
New York Red Bulls |
90 |
Toronto FC |
1,129 |
9 |
Zach Scott |
Defender |
Seattle Sounders FC |
90 |
Real Salt Lake |
1,125 |
10 |
Jair Benitez |
Defender |
FC Dallas |
90 |
Colorado Rapids |
1,114 |
11 |
Obafemi Martins |
Forward |
Seattle Sounders FC |
90 |
Real Salt Lake |
1,095 |
12 |
Michael Gspurning |
Goalkeeper |
Seattle Sounders FC |
90 |
Real Salt Lake |
1,074 |
13 |
Bryan de la Fuente |
Midfielder |
Chivas USA |
90 |
Portland Timbers |
1,061 |
14 |
Dominic Oduro |
Forward |
Columbus Crew |
90 |
Montreal Impact |
1,031 |
15 |
Jon Busch |
Goalkeeper |
San Jose Earthquakes |
90 |
Vancouver Whitecaps |
1,000 |
16 |
David Ferreira |
Midfielder |
FC Dallas |
90 |
Colorado Rapids |
999 |
17 |
Mike Magee |
Midfielder |
Chicago Fire |
90 |
New England Revolution |
930 |
18 |
Ricardo Clark |
Midfielder |
Houston Dynamo |
90 |
Philadelphia Union |
846 |
19 |
Jeff Larentowicz |
Midfielder |
Chicago Fire |
90 |
New England Revolution |
835 |
20 |
Pa-Modou Kah |
Defender |
Portland Timbers |
90 |
Chivas USA |
808 |