Galaxy forward Diego Fagúndez scored, leading his team to a draw with the Houston Dynamo on Saturday. (Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
Diego Fagúndez scored a goal on Saturday night, helping the short-handed Galaxy tie the Houston Dynamo 1-1.
The Galaxy’s Mathias Jogensen, known as Zanka, was shown a red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity for Ponce in the 28th minute and the Galaxy played a man down the rest of the way.
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Christian Ramírez was fouled by José Artur de Lima Júnior and Fagúndez put away the ensuing free kick, tucking a shot under the crossbar and inside the right post from nearly 30 yards out to make it 1-1 in the 57th minute.
Ezequiel Ponce opened the scoring in the 14th. Sebastian Kowalczyk, charging down the left side into the area, tapped a side-footer to Amine Bassi for a one-touch pass from the center of the box to Ponce, who redirected it into the net from point-blank range to give Houston (1-4-3) a 1-0 lead.
Blake Gillingham had a save for the Dynamo.
The Galaxy (0-5-3) equaled its worst start in franchise history, matching the 2003 team that went eight consecutive matches without a win to begin a campaign and is off to the third-worst start to a season in MLS history. Only the 2019 Colorado Rapids (two) and Toronto FC in 2012 (0) have collected fewer than three points from their first eight matches of a season in MLS history.
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John McCarthy had two saves for the Galaxy, who had 49% possession and were outshot 12-6.
Fagúndez, who turned 30 on Valentine’s Day, started the match and became the youngest player in league history to reach 400 regular season appearances.
The Galaxy commemorated the franchise’s 30th season, and honored the 1996 team with players from the squad in attendance.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
