Seattle Sounders center back Chad Marshall has defeated all odds. Going up against four attacking players who cause nightmares for defenses, Marshall beat them all out and was named the Etihad Airways Player of the Month for September. It is the second consecutive month that a player from Seattle was named as such after teammate Nicolás Lodeiro won the award in August.
Marshall wins with 30.66% of the vote
Going up against David Villa of New York City FC, Bradley Wright-Phillips of the New York Red Bulls, Giovani dos Santos of the LA Galaxy and Ola Kamara of the Columbus Crew, Marshall took home the award after receiving 30.66% of the vote. Marshall is the first defender to win the award in 2016. Marshall edged out Villa who received 29.94% of the votes. Wright-Phillips finished third with 18.43%, dos Santos received 14.74% and Kamara received just 6.23% of the vote.
Marshall anchors Sounders defense
Marshall is part of a solid center back duo that includes Román Torres. Since Torres returned from his ACL injury he suffered in September of 2015, the Sounders have been extremely hard to score on. The Sounders defense allowed only three goals the entire month and had two clean sheets as well. With their stout defense, the Sounders went 3-0-1 during the month and climb out of the basement of the Western Conference standings and are currently in fifth place.
Not only is Marshall good at defense, he is also good in the air on set pieces. He scored the game-winning goal in their September 28th match against the Chicago Fire when he headed home a corner sent in by Andreas Ivanschitz in the 24th minute. That one goal was enough to propel the Sounders to sixth place at the time. After their 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Sounders found themselves in fifth place.
What’s next?
The Sounders are off until they host the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday, October 12th at CenturyLink Field. With a win, the Sounders will clinch their eighth straight postseason berth.
The five Etihad Airways Player of the Month finalists are selected at the end of each month by the MLSsoccer.com editorial staff. The winner is then determined by a fan vote.