MLS: FC Dallas Remains Atop the Western Conference With Draw; Crew and Fire Battle to Draw

Despite the Houston Dynamo's late equalizer in the Texas Derby, FC Dallas remained atop the Western Conference while the Crew's Niko Hansen rescued a point for the Crew against the Chicago Fire.

HOUSTON — Ronaldo Pena scored his first MLS goal in the 88th minute, helping the Houston Dynamo tie FC Dallas 1-1 on Thursday night in the Texas Derby.

Houston (7-11-7) ended a club-record five-game losing streak, but its winless stretch was extended to eight matches. Dallas (13-5-7) remains atop the Western Conference standings, four points ahead of Sporting Kansas City and Los Angeles FC.

Pena, a Venezuela striker playing in his fourth MLS match, took a pass at the top of the 18-yard box, split two defenders and sent in a shot past a diving Jimmy Maurer.

Five minutes prior, Michael Barrios scored for Dallas by winning a one-on-one battle for a glancing header and sending it through the legs of goalkeeper Joe Willis. Barrios has scored all five of his goals this season in the last five games.

Six of the last seven games in the series have ended in draws - including the first meeting this season.

Chicago Fire 1, Columbus Crew 1

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Niko Hansen scored his first goal of the season in the 87th minute and the Columbus Crew tied the Chicago Fire 1-1 on Thursday night.

Columbus (11-8-7) is 1-4-1 in its last six road matches. Chicago (6-15-6) ended its longest losing streak in franchise history at eight games.

Hansen had a deflected cross fall to his feet at the penalty spot and curled in an easy finish. He hadn't scored since his MLS debut on March 25, 2017.

Nemanja Nikolic scored his 12th goal of the season for Chicago in the 67th minute. He raced to a poorly paced back-pass and sent home a breakaway shot for his fourth goal in the last four games against Columbus.

Chicago lost its first game of the season when scoring the opening goal, going 6-1-2.