With the shadows growing long on the 2007 Major League Soccer season, it would be justified to wonder whether D.C. United has paced itself enough to avoid a late swoon, having done exactlythat last year.
But after falling behind for the first time in a league match since July 22, United got a measured dose of energy off the bench and two more goals from torridly hot forward Luciano Emilio for a 4-2 victory over New England in a battle for first place in the Eastern Conference in front of 18,918 at RFK Stadium.
“I give the guys a lot of credit,” said United head coach Tom Soehn. “They’ve got a lot of resilience. I’ve pushed them hard.”
Fred opened the scoring in the 31st minute, but the Revolution (12-6-6) reclaimed the lead with a Taylor Twellman smash just before halftime and a Jay Heaps score on a messy corner kick 10 minutes after halftime.
But Jaime Moreno, who missed Saturday’s practice with illness and was given an IV prior to the match, added to his league record 110 goals to tie the match in the 59th minute. Emilio then struck in the 67th and 83rd minutes — his league-best 17th and 18th goals and his second straight multi-goal game — finishing plays started by Ben Olsen and Brian Carroll, respectively, both of whom came off the bench in the second half.
United (14-6-4) extended its unbeaten streak to eight games despite yet another different set of starters, including Josh Gros, who was surprisingly back in the lineup for the first time since what was feared to be a season-ending concussion last month.
