Zlatan Ibrahimovic said he was the best in MLS last week, and in Week 20 of the 2019 regular season, he fully lived up to the billing.
Ibrahimovic was voted MLS Player of the Week after scoring a hat trick in the LA Galaxy's3-2 win over LAFC on Friday. Ibrahimovic entered the game talking a big game, and backed it up. After LAFC jumped out to an early lead, Ibrahimovic equalized a few minutes later in dramatic fashion, with an impressive individual effort between multiple defenders.
With the game tied 1-1 in the second half, Ibrahimovic took his second goal of the game with a far-post header over an overmatched defender to take the lead. He then tacked on a vital insurance goal in the 70th minute, with a low blast from distance on a counterattack, that proved to be the winner.
The Player of the Week honor is Ibrahimovic's first of the 2019 season and third since joining MLS near the beginning of the 2018 campaign. The hat trick, meanwhile, was the second of his career in MLS play.
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
