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Angel's goal lifts Red Bulls past Fire

Sep 2, 2007 - 4:07 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Juan Pablo Angel scored in the 75th minute to break a scoreless tie and lead the New York Red Bulls to a 1-0 triumph over the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

Angel took a pass from Dane Richards and blasted a right-foot shot from 15 yards out past Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens into the lower right corner of the goal.

It was Angel's 14th tally of the season, which ties him for the best in the MLS with DC United's Luciano Emilio and Kansas City's Eddie Johnson, who also scored Saturday against the Houston Dynamos.

"I think it was a good goal, pretty lucky," Angel said. "I think it was a good play from Dane. He was a threat during the whole game. He kept going and at the end we found one chance and we took it."

New York (11-9-3) avoided its third straight loss and remained in third place in the Eastern Conference standings.

"It was a very important win for us," Red Bulls midfielder Claudio Reyna said. "We kept saying to be patient because they constantly had 10 guys behind the ball and it was very difficult to break down."

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," Angel said. "At the end, I think it was a very solid second half."

Red Bulls goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus made just three saves en route to his fifth shutout in his first season in MLS.

Pickens made five saves but Chicago (7-10-5) was unable to improve its spot in the playoff picture, sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.