Carson, Calif. • Zlatan Ibrahimovic couldn’t have scripted his Hollywood debut any better.
The superstar Swedish forward scored twice in his first MLS game to cap the Los Angeles Galaxy’s comeback from three goals down to beat LAFC 4-3 on Saturday.
“I gave them Zlatan,” Ibrahimovic said.
Ibrahimovic won it in the opening seconds of stoppage time with a header off a cross by Ashley Cole to send a sold-out StubHub Center into hysterics.
“After that, I was like, ‘Just stop the game now.’ I don’t want to feel any more adrenaline,” Ibrahimovic said.
Ibrahimovic’s first goal in America was more audacious, scoring on a 40-yard kick when he caught LAFC goalkeeper Tyler Miller off his line to tie the score 3-3 in the 77th minute. Still working his way back to full fitness after sustaining a major knee injury last April, Ibrahimovic said the play was more about being able to make it through the rest of the match than heralding his long-anticipated arrival in spectacular fashion.
“I felt like I played 40 games for my 20 minutes,” Ibrahimovic said. “I said this time I shoot, I don’t run with the ball. That’s the ball that went in. I said I will save strength to play another 15 minutes.”
No matter the intention behind the goal, Galaxy manager Sigi Schmid was blown away by the natural talent required to make it happen.
“That’s just world class. You can’t teach that,” Schmid said. “You can’t do something brilliant unless you dare to be brilliant, and Ibrahimovic is a perfect definition of the guy who always dares to be brilliant. That’s got to be a goal that’s going to go around the world. I’m sure it will be a YouTube sensation, it’s fantastic.”
It continued Ibrahimovic’s streak of scoring in his first game for every club he has played for.
Ibrahimovic replaced Sebastian Lletget in the 71st minute shortly after chants of “We want Zlatan” started in earnest. Ibrahimovic’s first touch came in the 73rd minute and helped lead to a goal by Chris Pontius on a header to pull to 3-2.
Lletget started the Galaxy’s comeback by scoring in the 61st minute.
“It was a good team effort, but, in the end, I think it was a Zlatan day,” Galaxy forward Ola Kamara said.
It was a stunning reversal after the first meeting between the first-year expansion team and five-time MLS Cup winners was a rout in favor of the newcomers in the first half, with Carlos Vela scoring twice.
Vela scored in the 5th minute, curling a shot from outside the penalty box in to give LAFC a 1-0 lead. Vela’s second goal came in the 26th minute when a defensive breakdown left him alone against goalkeeper David Bingham. Bingham lost his footing, allowing Vela to tuck his shot in under the crossbar for his third MLS goal in three games.
Daniel Steres had an own goal in the 48th minute when he put Marco Urena’s pass for Vela into his own net to make it 3-0.
Relying on up-and-coming players like Vela instead of big names on the downside of their career as the Galaxy have done, it seemed as if LAFC’s approach was going to be rewarded.
However, as Ibrahimovic said with his usual aplomb, “If they would have Zlatan, [the result] would be opposite.”
Whitecaps 2, Crew 1 • In Columbus, Ohio, Kei Kamara scored the go-ahead goal on a diving header in the 78th minute and Vancouver beat Columbus.
Brek Shea smashed home a deflection off Crew goalkeeper Zack Steffen in the 51st minute to tie it for Vancouver (3-1-1).
Gyasi Zardes pounced on a rebound in the 29th minute to open the scoring for the Crew (3-1-1), who had their four-game unbeaten streak snapped.
Artur had a header hit the crossbar in the 86th minute that would have tied it for Columbus.
Orlando City 4, Red Bulls 3 • In Orlando, Fla., Scott Sutter’s shot deflected off Josue Colman for the go-ahead goal in the 86th minute, sending Orlando City past the New York Red Bulls for its first victory this season.
Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles appeared to have Sutter’s shot covered, but the redirection off Colman’s shoulder put Robles out of position. Colman was credited with the goal.
Dom Dwyer had two goals for Orlando City (1-2-1). His first was a header that made it 2-2 in the 26th minute. His second was a low hard blast off a throw-in that put his team up 3-2 in the 48th minute.
Aaron Long pulled the Red Bulls (2-2-0) even in the 82nd minute with a short header to finish Marc Rzatkowski’s free kick.
New York opened the scoring in the seventh minute with Florian Valot’s header off Alejandro Romero Gamarra’s cross. Will Johnson’s tap-in tied it for Orlando in the 15th minute. Derrick Etienne gave the Red Bulls a 2-1 lead with his first MLS goal in the 24th minute.
New York will travel to Guadalajara to face Chivas in the first leg of CONCACAF Champions League semifinal Wednesday night.
Timbers 2, Fire 2 • In Bridgeview, Ill., Brandon Vincent had a goal and an assist and Chicago tied Portland. Vincent headed down Bastian Schweinsteiger’s deep diagonal cross to cap the scoring in the 84th minute for the Fire (0-2-1). The result snapped Chicago’s four-game losing streak stretching back to last season.
Sebastian Blanco headed home Andres Flores’ cross from the middle of the 18-yard box to give the Timbers (0-2-2) the 2-1 lead in the 55th minute.
Schweinsteiger set up Vincent’s wide cross in the 50th minute and Nemanja Nikolic tapped in his third goal of the season to make it 1-all.
Blanco’s takeaway near midfield led to Diego Valeri’s early goal for Portland in the sixth minute. It was the reigning MVP’s first goal of the 2018 campaign.
Impact 1, Sounders 0 • In Seattle, Jeisson Vargas scored on a point-blank shot in the 60th minute, and the Montreal Impact beat the short-handed Seattle Sounders.
Montreal (2-2-0) won its second straight after an 0-2-0 start. The Sounders are 0-3-0 for the second time in club history. They also dropped three in a row to start the 2016 season that ultimately ended with them winning MLS Cup.
Rapids 3, Union 0 • In Commerce City, Colo. Dominique Badji scored three goals and the Colorado Rapids got their first win of the season, beating the Philadelphia Union.
Badji opened the scoring in the 53rd minute with a left-footed stab that was set up by Jack Price’s corner and Tommy Smith’s header flick.
Colorado (1-1-1) doubled its lead in the 61st minute when Badji took advantage of a deflection off defender Jack Elliott.
Badji completed his hat trick in 87th, taking a long diagonal pass from Johan Blomberg and beating Elliott with a stutter move to his left.
Rapids head coach Anthony Hudson earned his first MLS victory.
The Union (1-1-1) were on the road for the first time this season.
NYCFC 2, Earthquakes 1 • In San Jose, Calif., Maximiliano Moralez had a goal and an assist and New York City FC beat the San Jose Earthquakes.
Ismael Tajouri dribbled it to the right side of the penalty box from about 40 yards out and fed it to Maximiliano Moralez who, with the help of a deflection off Yeferson Quintana, made it 2-1 for NYCFC (4-0-1) in the 60th minute.
Anton Tinnerholm smashed home a volley to finish Moralez’s corner to tie the game in the 49th minute.
Quintana opened the scoring in the third minute for the Quakes (1-2-0) with his first career MLS goal. He headed Magnus Eriksson’s corner with a flick into the far side of the goal.
Sean Johnson made nine saves, five after the 60th minute to preserve City’s lead.
NYCFC has scored two goals in each of its five of its games this season.
Atlanta United 1, Minnesota United 0 • In Minneapolis, defender Francisco Calvo scored an own goal in the third minute, giving ten-man Atlanta United FC a 1-0 win over Minnesota United FC in a battle of last season’s expansion teams on Saturday night.
Minnesota (2-3-0) goalkeeper Matthew Lampson attempted to punch away a close-range shot and Atlanta’s Hector Villalba headed it back at goal. The rebound of Villalba’s header off the crossbar deflected off Calvo and trickled into the right corner of the goal.
Atlanta (3-1-0) went down a man in the 38th minute when Leandro Gonzalez Pirez was sent off for his second yellow card.
Brad Guzan had three saves in his first shutout of the season.