Zlatan Ibrahimovic guides LA Galaxy past Orlando City with first Major League hat-trick
Swede strikes three times in California win over Orlando that sends Galaxy to third in Western conference
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his first MLS hat trick during a 24-minute stretch of the second half, lifting the LA Galaxy to a 4-3, come-from-behind victory over Orlando City on Sunday night in Carson, California.
Ibrahimovic now has 15 goals over 17 appearances for the Galaxy, scoring multiple goals five times since joining the club in late March.
Giovani dos Santos also scored after an assist from Ibrahimovic and added an assist of his own for LA who moved up to third in the MLS table. The Galaxy are now unbeaten in their last nine matches.
Cristian Higuita and Dom Dwyer scored for Orlando City, who also benefited from an own goal. The Lions held the lead on three separate occasions.
Orlando City have lost three straight matches and have just one win in their last 13 matches. The Lions have conceded four or more goals in four separate matches during that stretch.
Ibrahimovic finished with an impressive seven shots on goal, three more than in any of his previous MLS appearances.
He scored his first goal of the night just two minutes into the second half, when he met dos Santos’ early cross from the left with a thundering header that beat goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jnr to the top right corner, levelling the game at 2-2.
Dwyer gave Orlando the lead back seven minutes later when he headed in Mohamed El-Munir’s cross from the left, but Ibrahimovic levelled the score again in the 67th minute.