and after a seven-minute delay where Suarez was carried from the field after a collision with Guzan knocked him out -- Ruiz neatly converted his own penalty when he sent the rookie 'keeper the wrong way (85).
Then four minutes deep into stoppage time, O'Brien played provider as FC Dallas broke out on a nearly uncontested counterattack, the Irish winger driving in a cross to the top of the box where Eddie Johnson headed it past an on-rushing Guzan.
At Soldier Field, the Fire won for the first time this season while it was a familiar -- but disheartening -- refrain for the Earthquakes. The Fire took the lead in the 58th minute when a Justin Mapp cross on the left intended for Nate Jaqua was headed over San Jose goalkeeper Pat Onstad by teammate Craig Waibel for an own goal.
But the Quakes drew level with seven minutes left through some hard work. Ronald Cerritos found Brian Ching in the penalty area, and after he was bundled over to the turf, he somehow managed to shield the ball before rising and slipping a nifty little pass to substitute Alejandro Moreno, who drove the ball under Fire 'keeper Matt Pickens.
Yet there was one more bit of late magic: Substitute Chad Barrett jinked his way down the right flank before driving a low cross into the heart of the six-yard box where Thiago slid in to poke the ball past Onstad for the match-winner (91+). It was the third time in three games the Quakes saw points lost after a late goal, after two second-half goals canceled a two-goal lead in their opener against New England, and a stoppage-time equalizer gave Chivas USA a 3-3 draw a week later.
At Giants Stadium, the Kansas City Wizards jumped out to an early lead but again allowed a pair of goals as the MetroStars came back to claim a share of the spoils.
Jack Jewsbury scored his second goal in as many games to give the Wizards a 20th-minute lead, neatly turning home the deflection of a Davy Arnaud shot that hit a defender in front of goal. Then 11 minutes later Chris Klein doubled the advantage when he finished off a lovely passing sequence by hammering home a low drive over Metros goalkeeper Zach Wells from inside the area.
But Sergio Galvan Rey scored two goals -- after scoring two all of last season -- to pull the MetroStars all the way back. He hit for his first just before the halftime break, John Wolyniec slipping a square pass inside the box for the Colombian to drive past Bo Oshoniyi (43).
Then on the hour, Galvan Rey hit again, with Wolyniec again the provider. He ran down a long ball from the center circle from Youri Djorkaeff -- who made his MLS debut -- and after holding off a defender in the penalty area laid it back for the oncoming Galvan Rey, who made no mistake with his low finish.
At Crew Stadium, Edson Buddle scored his league-leading third goal of the season, then goalkeeper Jon Busch made sure it stood up as the Crew moved atop the Eastern Conference.
Buddle scored in the 26th minute after Simon Elliott drove in a free kick from the left corner where Buddle was able to hold off a host of United defenders before turning and slipping it home.
But Busch made a number of world-class saves to preserve a second clean sheet at home for the Crew, one on Santino Quaranta in the first half and one on a Jaime Moreno header in the second that seemed certain to sneak inside the post -- sandwiched around a remarkable save on teammate Ante Razov when he was trying to head clear on a free kick.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
