• Recap
• Bleachers

Emilio's late goal helps D.C. United edge Fire

Jun 8, 2008 - 4:28 AM BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (Ticker) -- Luciano Emilio scored the game-winning goal in the 92nd minute to lift D.C. United to a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night.

With the contest in danger of finishing in a draw, Emilio accepted a feed from Ryan Cordeiro and blasted a shot between three defenders and past Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch.

"Luciano played a great game," said D.C. United forward Jaime Moreno, who also scored a goal. "The whole team played great. We need to continue playing at this level and get better."

The Brazilian-born Emilio is off to another stellar campaign with his fourth tally through 12 games. He finished with a league-best 20 goals last season, earning the Budweiser Golden Boot Award as rookie.

In the 83rd minute, D.C. United made a good attempt to take the lead Marc Burch's free kick, but the 31-year-old Busch pushed the ball off the crossbar.

D.C. United (4-7-1) tied the game at 1-1 in the 63rd minute when Busch deflected Emilio's shot into the penalty area. Moreno followed the play and tapped it past Busch for his fifth goal of the season.

"D.C. is a great team," said Busch, who made eight saves. "My job is to save shots. We weren't smart. We can't get caught back like that. It was a lack of discipline on our part."

The win was impressive for D.C. United, which played a man down after Bryan Namoff was ejected for picking up his second yellow card in the 88th minute.

D.C. United's Marcelo Gallardo was ejected along with Brandon Prideaux of Chicago (6-3-1) in the 55th minute.

"I asked the referee why he gave me a red card," Prideaux said. "Gallardo slid into me and I started to fall over him. He gets up and headbutts me."

Zach Wells, D.C. United's goalkeeper, allowed his lone mistake in the first half when Cuauhtemoc Blanco picked up his sixth assist on Chad Barrett's tally in the 27th minute.

It was the fourth consecutive game with an assist for Blanco to pull him into a tie for the league lead with Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Javier Morales of Real Salt Lake.