Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores twice as Galaxy beat LAFC

Zlatan Ibrahimovic from LA Galaxy celebrates after scoring against LAFC during their Major League Soccer (MLS) game at the StarHub Center in Los Angeles, California, on March 31, 2018. The 37 year old is playing his first game for the Los Angeles Galaxy. (AFP)


Swedish international striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic entered the US Major League Soccer (MLS) through the front door, scoring twice for his new team Los Angeles Galaxy, who beat Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) 4-3 in the first ever LA derby.

Ibrahimovic, 36, showed little signs of rustiness when he helped his team to come back from 3-0 behind, scoring the equaliser and winning goal for Galaxy on Saturday, reports Efe.

The Swedish international, who was officially introduced and had his first training session as a new Galaxy player on Friday after arriving in Los Angeles on Thursday night, had only been on the field for six minutes when he scored his first MLS goal, the 3-3 draw.

Ibrahimovic, just six minutes after coming on the field as a substitute for Sebastian Lletget, launched a spectacular volley from 35 meters to beat goalkeeper Tyler Miller, who was out of his box, sparking celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.

When it seemed that the final score would be a draw, with time running out, at 90+1 minutes, Ibrahimovic emerged to score the winning goal with a header, off a pass from Baggio Husidic.