Picault’s 9th goal enough for draw

As the Dynamo try to climb out of the deep hole they have dug for themselves, forward Fafa Picault is doing all he can to aid the effort.

Picault scored in the first half Wednesday night to help the Dynamo tie the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.

Picault’s goal was his team-leading ninth of the season. Seven of those have come in his last nine games, making him the secondleading scorer in Major League Soccer over that period.

His current form includes a three-game goal-scoring streak and one two-goal game. That two-goal game came in a win over Austin FC last weekend, which means he now has three goals in his last two games.

“He’s a very hard worker, and he’s always at the end of things,” Dynamo coach Tab Ramos said. “He had been missing some goals, but he’s always getting chances. That comes from a lot of hard work and good timing on his runs.”

Picault had good timing on the run that led to his goal Wednesday, and for the second game in a row, Darwin Quintero played a major role in the Dynamo’s opener.

Quintero received a pass from Maxi Urruti in transition and turned to face the goal. Then Quintero played a ball up the middle between two Galaxy defenders. Picault got to the ball first and from just inside the penalty area swept a shot past Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.

The Dynamo (4-10-11, 23 points) went toe-to-toe with the fourth-place Galaxy (118-5, 38 points) for much of the game and held the lead until the 61st minute, when Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez drifted to a vacant spot between Dynamo defenders Teenage Hadebe and Adam Lundkvist to head in a cross from Jonathan Dos Santos for his 12th goal of the season.

The Dynamo had a couple of chances over the next 15 minutes to attack, including one in the 72nd minute on a corner kick. The service skipped through two players at the near post and into a crowd at the edge of the 6-yard box. Midfielder Matias Vera got to it first and had a great look, but he hit it wide.

The Dynamo’s chances fizzled after that. Eventually, the game became about preserving the tie, and when the full-time whistle sounded, the Dynamo were happy to bring one point with them back to Houston.

The Dynamo are still 10 points out of a playoff position, but Ramos said they have not given up on making a late run to qualify for the postseason.