Gonzalez scores on header, salvaging 1-1 draw for Galaxy against short-handed Fire

Galaxy salvages draw with Fire off Gonzalez header

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Omar Gonzalez headed in a corner by Landon Donovan in the 90th minute Saturday, allowing the Los Angeles Galaxy to salvage a 1-1 tie against the short-handed Chicago Fire.

Chicago was already without leading scorer Marco Pappa, who is on national team duty with Guatemala, and the Fire was forced to play with only 10 men after Gonzalo Segares’ ejection in the 21st minute. But Collins John, who came on in the 83rd, gave Chicago (6-7-7) the lead with a free kick from 20 yards in the 87th minute, curling it past a diving Donovan Ricketts and just inside the far post.

Fire fans were still celebrating when Gonzalez evened things up. Donovan placed the corner kick perfectly, finding Gonzalez right in front of the goal. Gonzalez nudged the ball in with his head, and Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson could do little but wave a hand at it as it sailed into the net.

The draw snapped a season-long two-game losing streak for the Galaxy (13-5-5), who lead Major League Soccer with 44 points.

Los Angeles dominated the game for most of the afternoon, and easily could have been up 2-0 at halftime. The Galaxy earned a penalty kick after Segares was ejected following a collision with Leonardo, but Sean Johnson saved Donovan’s shot. Donovan had another chance in the 39th minute when Alex Cazumba found him in front of a wide-open goal. But Donovan’s header was off the mark.