LOS ANGELES – Stop reading if you’ve heard this one before, but Zlatan Ibrahimović just can’t stop scoring.
Ibrahimović notched a brace in the Galaxy’s 2-0 win, scoring off a header in the 27th minute, and then less than 10 minutes later, slotting a penalty past Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake. The legendary Swedish striker has now scored six goals in his last four games and sits in a tie for second in the league’s goal scoring chart.
After scoring and helping the Galaxy to their fourth consecutive victory, Ibrahimovic was pleased but admitted his squad have a long way to go to hit their stride.
“I try to help the team in the best way and that is to score goals. First half, I had a couple of chances, no those were the only two chances I had. In the second, I don’t think we were close even to create a chance to score. So, two different games, first half and second half.
“First half I think was amazing. We had rhythm. We were aggressive. We had possession. We were direct. Second half, we say it enough times we go out to kill, to score three or four and keep going. After two seconds, we almost conceded one goal. Either everybody was not on the same side, or we just relaxed and that cannot happen. When you go out and relax you get punished and when you get punished it’s difficult to come back because remember last year when it happened. We had to chase the goal all the time, so lucky we were two up this time. But, this cannot happen, we cannot relax like this. We have to keep going.
The Galaxy’s uneven second half showing notwithstanding, Ibrahimović is now scoring at a faster clip than Josef Martinez averaged last season before he broke the single-season goal scoring record.
A fact that matters little to Ibrahimović, who is simply focused on a more important stat: wins.
“I’m not focusing on this player. For me, he’s him and I am myself. I come on the field to score. My job is to score. The best way to help the team is to score. I’m in front, I try to create chances for my teammates. When I get the chance, I try to score. It has nothing to do with that player or what he did. I have more than 500 goals.”
