Washington, D.C. (Sports Network) - It's safe to say Luciano Emilio is back.

The reigning Major League Soccer MVP scored just one goal in D.C. United's first nine games, and consequently his team won just two of those games.

But Saturday night vs. the New York Red Bulls at RFK Stadium, the Brazilian forward scored three goals to lead his team to a dominating 4-1 win over their Eastern Conference rivals, stretching his goal scoring streak to four games.

Consequently, United is unbeaten on the run, going 3-0-1 in that span. Emilio now has seven goals on the season which places him second in the league behind Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Emilio started the scoring on Saturday when he tapped in a feed from fellow Brazilian Fred in the 23rd minute against a Red Bulls side that was playing without Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna because of injury and Jozy Altidore because of his impending transfer to Spanish La Liga side Villarreal.

Three minutes later D.C. went up 2-0 when Jaime Moreno laid off a pass to Clyde Simms, who beat New York goalkeeper Jon Conway near post with a blast from 20 yards.

Just before halftime Emilio made it 3-0 when he pounded home a rebound for his second goal of the game.

New York started chipping away in the second half, with Dave van den Bergh pulling a goal back nine minutes after the break when he cut back at the top of the box and blasted a shot past Zach Wells far post. The chance started when New York forward John Wolyneic had a shot go off the bar.

With the goal allowed, D.C. still doesn't have a clean sheet this season.

Emilio completed the hat trick just before the hour mark when Jaime Moreno played a ball through to create a two-on-one break. Emilio took a pass and buried the chance past Conway from 10-yards out to make it 4-1.

D.C. (5-7-1) will aim to continue its return to top form when it hosts expansion San Jose on June 22 while New York (4-4-3) travels to New England on Wednesday for its next league fixture.