Zlatan Ibrahimovic was far too much for Orlando City’s patchwork backline to handle.
The Swede picked up his first MLS hat trick as the LA Galaxy came from behind three times to eventually defeat Orlando City by a 4-3 score.
Zlatan not only scored three of the Galaxy’s four goals on the night, be he also assisted on their first. Giovani dos Santos levelled to score for LA in the 39th minute as an answer for a wonderful passing play between Sacha Kljestan and Cristian Higuita back in the 18th minute. Higuita’s finish put Orlando City in front for the first time on the night.
An unfortunate own goal off Michael Ciani in the 44th minute rallied Ibrahimovic to a hot start in the second half. He found the equalizer just two minutes into the second half by heading home a cross from dos Santos.
His second came in the 67th minute after Dom Dwyer restored Orlando’s lead yet again. This time he finished an Ola Kamara cross with a powerful diving header. He didn’t wait long to get his third, either. It came in the 71st minute by snacking home a rebound from the corner of the six yard box.
Ibrahimovic now has 15 goals in 16 MLS appearances since joining the Galaxy at the end of March.
Meanwhile, Orlando City’s struggles continue as they have lost 12 of their last 13 matches.
Man of the Match
Zlatan Ibrahimovic continues to take MLS by storm by bagging his first hat trick in MLS.
Moment of the Match
Zlatan’s third goal gave the LA Galaxy their first lead of the match and it was enough to see off the struggling Lions.
Match to Forget
Chris Schuler will be seeing Zlatan Ibrahimovic in his nightmares tonight, because he was useless while trying to mark the Swede.