Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Hat-Trick Beats Carlos Vela and His LAFC, Galaxy Wins 3-2

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat-trick in El Trafico, outshining Carlos Vela’s double, and leading his Galaxy to a 3-2 win over LAFC. The Swedish international was magnificent last night at the Dignity Health Sports Park, and was the main reason for Galaxy’s triumph despite them being massive underdogs in this clash.

“Today was probably the best game we played,” he said after the event. And it really was like that.

But it didn’t start well for Ibra and the boys, who were trailing after just four minutes of play. The leading scorer of the MLS and probably the best player of the championship so far, Carlos Vela, converted a penalty kick and gave the lead to the visitors. He was previously brought down in the box and decided to execute the penalty on his own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmW-jtCRXOw

Ibrahimovic responded four minutes later, with a nice lob leveling the score, and shifting the momentum to Galaxy’s side. It turned out to be everything in the first 45 minutes. The hosts were better and controlled the things on the court, but there weren’t any goals.

It was the 56th minute when the home team turned tables, taking the lead. Ibrahimovic scored a header on Diego Polenta’s assist, and fourteen minutes afterward he nailed a hat-trick with a precise low shot which set the crowd on fire.

“When you play against a rival like that, with a full stadium, the atmosphere is nice,” Ibrahimovic said. “I get pumped, I get adrenaline. This is considered to be the biggest game in the league, so the biggest job is to show up in the biggest game.”

Carlos Vela decreased the deficit for his team in the 7th minute of the injury time, but there wasn’t enough time for LAFC to do something more. Though, he did justify the reputation of the best scorer and the best player of the current championship.

At the moment, the Mexican has 21 goals, and the Swed 16. The former Barcelona and Man United player called out Vela before the match, saying that there is no question who is a better player between the two, heating things up a little bit. Following El Trafico, Ibrahimovic stated that he believes that his comments motivated the Mexican.

Right now, the two clubs from Los Angeles are on top of the West, with LAFC having 46 points (14-3-4), while Galaxy has 37 (12-8-1). This victory will be a huge morale boost for Galaxy, who has been struggling with its form lately. Previously to this encounter, they lost four out of five home matches, which severely affected their pursuit of the local rival. Not only that, it allowed other teams to come closer and make their position very tough.

After scoring a hattrick today vs Carlos Vela’s LAFC, Zlatan Ibrahimović said:

“I didn’t work my career to come to the MLS just to be compared to Carlos Vela. You don’t compare Ferrari’s with Fiats."

pic.twitter.com/QnFdCq9JNn

— Footy Humour (@FootyHumour) July 20, 2019

Still, for Ibrahimovic, that is not the reason for panic. According to his words, the only thing which matters is the playoff.

“I mean in the U.S. the regular season is not important, according to everybody, only the playoffs,” he said. “And then when the playoffs come I have to put in playoff mode..”

This was the fourth El Trafico, and Galaxy still hasn’t lost against LAFC. The more famous team from the City of Angels has two wins, and the other two events ended without winners. Bob Bradley’s boys will have another chance to snap that frustrating streak on August 25, at their own court. After this failure, there is no doubt about their motivation, especially Vela’s who will be eager to show Ibrahimovic who really is the best player in the MLS.