Although it's too early to tell the long-term effects, the Columbus Crew loved the immediate payoff of Friday's trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy. In addition to a strong 90 minutes from Joseph Ngwenya, Ned Grabavoy came off the substitutes bench to score the only goal of the match in a win against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night at Crew Stadium.
The two former SuperDraft selections by former Galaxy and current Crew coach Sigi Schmid put in superb efforts before even spending one night in Columbus. They both arrived on a red-eye flight from Los Angeles at 6 a.m. ET on Saturday. With the Crew offense struggling so far this season, the pair was given a chance right away, which is exactly what Grabavoy wanted.
"I knew I wanted to make a difference," said Grabavoy. "I wanted to get in there and make an impact right away."
And it didn't take long for the new acquisition to make his mark. Grabavoy finished a fine solo effort 14 minutes after coming into the match on the hour.
"I found the ball at the top of the box," said Grabavoy. "I tried to make something and fortunately it worked out."
Said Schmid: "Ned, when he plays on the left side, is very good at cutting in. He has always been a very good finisher. He just found the far corner and that is what he had to do."
The effort was an excellent example of what Schmid had in mind when going forward with the trade.
"Ned Grabavoy is just a clever player. That is what I expect of him," said Schmid. "He makes decisive plays at decisive moments. That is why we made that trade."
Ngwenya also impressed Schmid with the performance after a busy week.
"I think for sure we saw what Joseph can bring. He played 78 minutes on Wednesday and also played a reserve game last weekend," said the Crew boss. "You could see how he was still running at the end of the game."
Even though the players just arrived this morning, the Crew had no alternative but to include both on the 18-man roster for the match.
"I couldn't be more proud of what our team has put in some very difficult situations. We had to make no choices in who to suit up today for our 18 players," said Schmid. "We only had 18 players. The other guys were all injured."
While Grabavoy's goal grabbed much of the excitement of the evening, it was another good all-around performance by the Crew's defense that allowed a single goal to be enough for the triumph.
"We are doing a good job defensively as a whole (team) to prevent any good opportunities," said defender Ritchie Kotschau.
The Crew have allowed only two goals in their last five games after giving up six in the first two.
"Our mantra over the last four games has been give us a chance to win," said Schmid. "Rusty Pierce, in terms of what he has done so far, has been our defender of the year. He has brought it every game."
Additionally, Schmid praised the work of Chris Leitch, an Ohio native making his first start for the Crew since 2002.
"Leitchy did a great job. [Rapids winger Terry] Cooke killed us last time," said Schmid. "He bottled him up pretty well on that side."
Cooke assisted on all three goals in the Rapids' victory against the Crew earlier this season.
John Kuhn is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
