CARSON, Calif. – Zlatan Ibrahimović delivered the LA Galaxy another victory on Saturday evening.
Ibrahimović notched a brace as the Galaxy defeated Real Salt Lake, 3-0 at StubHub Center. The Galaxy striker has scored in bunches since joining the Galaxy in late March, notching seven goals and three assists in 11 games for the team.
When the Swedish striker scores the Galaxy are an impressive 3-1-0—which has led to half of the team’s wins this season. Although his goals are leading to victories, the outspoken striker says it's the little things he does that truly matter in the Galaxy's wins.
“When I started to work with [Ajax legend Marco] Van Basten [during his early career], he said to me that the best thing to help your team is to score goals because that is the striker’s job," Ibrahimovic said. "That is my main objective: to try to score and create chances for my teammates. I see myself as a different player since then. I see myself as a complete player. … I can do all the things that are expected from the coach. Even if I don’t score, I try to do the things to help my teammates score.
“Listen, if I don’t score and we win, I’ll be just as happy as when I score, and we win.”
Against Salt Lake, Ibrahimović was dominant in the air as two of his tallies came as he capitalized on errors by the visitors and out leapt the RSL defenders. His success led to some chippiness and a few confrontations with Salt Lake defenders, but the talented striker was unmoved by the testy play.
Instead, the Galaxy striker admitted that it fuels him like “gas on a fire.”
“Don’t make me angry,” he said with a sly smile on his face.
