Match Reports

United cruises to 4-1 win over New York behind Emilio hat trick

I think it's safe to say that Luciano Emilio has put his slow start to the 2008 MLS season behind him. With three goals tonight, Emilio has now scored in four consecutive league matches and has six goals in that span.

"We're creating a lot of opportunities, that's always a positive. I said this before when he (Emilio) gets one, it's going to come in bunches." said head coach Tom Soehn after the match.

DC United's 4-1 win over their shorthanded rivals New York Red Bull was their second straight win and United now have a season best four game unbeaten streak going that has seen them jump past Kansas City and New York into 5th place in the Eastern Conference. Still though, Soehn clearly wasn't pleased with the effort out of the gate, "I expected a little bit more at the start of the game. I came in a little dissapointed (at half time) that we didn't play better. I felt we finished well. We didn't manage the game that well. The second half I thought we started to knock it around a little better."
Red Bull were missing a host of players tonight with the sale of Jozy Altidore to Villareal and injuries to both of their Designated Players Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna. With that trio out of the picture United had command of the game throughout despite missing two of their star players in Marcelo Gallardo and Bryan Namoff, both of whom were sitting out red card suspensions from last weeks win in Chicago.

United got the scoring started in the 23rd minute with a breathtaking counter attack led by Santino Quaranta. Quaranta picked up a ball near midfield and sped straight at the retreating Red Bull defense and threaded an inch perfect pass to Fred on the right wing who one-timed a cross through the goal box for Emilio to tap into an empty net. It was one of the best team goals United has scored this season and was the first of many well executed attacks on the evening.

The fans at RFK barely had enough time to come down from their opening goal high before United increased their lead to 2-0 with a bit of trickery. With Red Bull expecting a normal cross from a United free kick on the left side of the box, Jaime Moreno slotted the kick out front to a wide open Clyde Simms who ripped a low shot from 23 yards past helpless Red Bull goalie Jon Conway in the 26th minute. United's first half domination was complete in stoppage time with another fine counter attack goal. Quaranta got on the end of a Moreno pass inside the penalty area and his curling shot was saved by Conway but deflected right into the path of Emilio to slam home his second goal of the game.

United however did come out of the half a bit sluggish as they allowed New York to get on the board. Dave van den Bergh picked up a loose ball on the right side of the penalty area and curled a beautiful shot past the diving Zach Wells in the 54th minute to cut the defecit to 3-1. It was the only shot on goal for the entire game for Red Bull. "I was dissapointed we gave up a goal," said Soehn "We're working hard to get a clean sheet. We don't have a clean sheet yet and that's troublesome. Still some things to fix."

United didn't take long to respond though when Emilio got his third goal of the game in the 59th minute. The play started when Jaime Moreno got hold of the ball at the midfield stripe and simply and cleverly waited for the overlapping run from defender Devon McTavish. Moreno slipped the ball past the defense and McTavish was on his way towards goal. Red Bull defender Andrew Boyens was caught in no-mans land as Emilio collected a perfect layoff from McTavish, took one touch, and roofed the ball from 8 yards out for the final nail in Red Bull's coffin.

With the victory United now has 16 points on the season and welcome the expansion San Jose Earthquakes into town next Sunday afternoon at 3 pm at RFK. The game will be televised nationally on the Telefutura network and here locally on Comcast SportsNet.

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