Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney are dominating the MLS this season … again

The Swede and the Englishman sit second and third in goals scored as they prolong their careers overseas

Both are in their second campaigns with Major League Soccer and are showing age is just a number

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney are dominating the MLS again this season while they are both in their 30s. Photo: AFP/Reuters

Published: 2:22pm, 29 May 2019Updated: 2:22pm, 29 May 2019

If it wasn’t for Los Angeles Football Club’s Carlos Vela, you could call the 2019 Major League Soccer season the “Zlatan and Wayne Show”.

Los Angeles Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 37, sits second in MLS scoring with nine goals in 10 games while Wayne Rooney, 33, of DC United is third with eight in 14 games. Although the two are trumped by Vela, who has 15 goals in as many games for LAFC, who are first in the Western Conference. The Galaxy are third, while DC United are first in the Eastern Conference as the league approaches the midway point of the regular season and the All-Star game, which takes place on June 13 in Orlando, Florida.

Ibrahimovic is coming off a two-game suspension for “violent conduct” in which he grabbed New York FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson by the neck after being bumped from behind. Rooney is showing his free kick prowess – he has scored from four in his 28 total matches in the MLS.

Last season the Galaxy narrowly missed out on a play-off spot, but Ibrahimovic finished second in league scoring with 22 goals while Rooney’s DC United suffered a heartbreaking loss on penalties in the first knockout round of the play-offs.

Wayne Rooney is back in action for DC United again this summer in the MLS. Photo: Reuters

There was speculation neither would return for their second season in the MLS, however both have stayed true to their words. Ibrahimovic was rumoured to be returning to AC Milan last December during the European transfer window, however signed a one-year deal with the Galaxy again as a designated player in a deal worth a rumoured US$7.5 million.