MLS capsules: Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores twice in debut, Galaxy down LAFC

CARSON, Calif. – Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice in his MLS debut and the LA Galaxy defeated LAFC 4-3 on Saturday.

Ibrahimovic won it with a header in the opening seconds of stoppage time after tying the match at 3 in the 77th minute when he caught LAFC goalkeeper Tyler Miller out of his goal and scored on a 40-yard kick.

The 36-year-old Swedish forward pulled off his shirt in celebration, resulting in a yellow card, as his long-awaited American arrival more than lived up to the billing.

Ibrahimovic replaced Sebastian Lletget in the 71st minute after chants of “We want Zlatan” started in earnest at a sold-out StubHub Center. Ibrahimovic’s first touch came in the 73rd and helped lead to a goal by Chris Pontius on a header pull to 3-2.

It was a stunning reversal after the first meeting between the first-year expansion team and five-time MLS Cup winners looked as if it would be a rout in favor of the newcomers, with Carlos Vela scoring twice in the first half.

Vela scored in the 5th minute, curling a shot from outside the penalty box in to give LAFC a 1-0 lead. Vela’s second goal came in the 26th minute when a defensive breakdown left him alone against goalkeeper David Bingham. Bingham lost his footing, allowing Vela to tuck his shot in under the crossbar for his third MLS goal in three games.

Daniel Steres had an own goal in the 48th minute when he put Marco Urena’s pass for Vela into his own net to make it 3-0, but Lletget started the Galaxy’s comeback by

Orlando City 4, Red Bulls 3: Scott Sutter’s shot deflected off Josue Colman for the go-ahead goal in the 86th minute, sending Orlando City past New York for its first victory this season in Orlando, Florida.

Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles appeared to have Sutter’s shot covered, but the redirection off Colman’s shoulder put Robles out of position. Colman was credited with the goal.

Dom Dwyer had two goals for Orlando City (1-2-1). His first was a header that made it 2-2 in the 26th minute. His second was a low hard blast off a throw-in that put his team up 3-2 in the 48th minute.

Aaron Long pulled the Red Bulls (2-2-0) even in the 82nd minute with a short header to finish Marc Rzatkowski’s free kick.

Whitecaps 2, Crew 1: Kei Kamara scored the go-ahead goal on a diving header in the 78th minute for Vancouver in Columbus, Ohio .

Brek Shea smashed home a deflection off Crew goalkeeper Zack Steffen in the 51st minute to tie it for the Whitecaps (3-1-1).

Gyasi Zardes pounced on a rebound in the 29th minute to open the scoring for the Crew (3-1-1), who had their four-game unbeaten streak snapped.

Artur had a header hit the crossbar in the 86th minute that would have tied it for Columbus.

Timbers 2, Fire 2: Brandon Vincent had a goal and an assist to lift Chicago to a draw with Portland in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Vincent headed down Bastian Schweinsteiger’s deep diagonal cross to cap the scoring in the 84th minute for the Fire (0-2-1). The result snapped Chicago’s four-game losing streak stretching back to last season.

Sebastian Blanco headed home Andres Flores’ cross from the middle of the 18-yard box to give the Timbers (0-2-2) the 2-1 lead in the 55th minute.

Schweinsteiger set up Vincent’s wide cross in the 50th minute and Nemanja Nikolic tapped in his third goal of the season to make it 1-all.

Blanco’s takeaway near midfield led to Diego Valeri’s early goal for Portland in the sixth minute. It was the reigning MVP’s first goal of the 2018 campaign.

NYCFC 2, Earthquakes 1: Maximiliano Moralez had a goal and an assist and New York City FC beat San Jose in San Joe, California.

Ismael Tajouri dribbled it to the right side of the penalty box from about 40 yards out and fed it to Maximiliano Moralez who, with the help of a deflection off Yeferson Quintana, made it 2-1 for NYCFC (4-0-1) in the 60th minute.

Anton Tinnerholm smashed home a volley to finish Moralez’s corner to tie the game in the 49th minute.

Quintana opened the scoring in the third minute for the Quakes (1-2-0) with his first career MLS goal. He headed Magnus Eriksson’s corner with a flick into the far side of the goal.

Sean Johnson made nine saves, five after the 60th minute to preserve City’s lead.

Atlanta United 1, Minnesota United 0: Francisco Calvo scored an own goal in the third minute, giving 10-man Atlanta United FC a win over Minnesota United FC in a matchup of last season’s expansion teams in Minneapolis.

Minnesota (2-3-0) goalkeeper Matthew Lampson attempted to punch away a close-range shot and Atlanta’s Hector Villalba headed it back at goal. The rebound of Villalba’s header off the crossbar deflected off Calvo and trickled into the right corner of the goal.

Atlanta (3-1-0) went down a man in the 38th minute when Leandro Gonzalez Pirez was sent off for his second yellow card.

Brad Guzan had three saves in his first shutout of the season.

Sporting KC 1, D.C. United 0: Felipe Gutierrez scored an early goal and Sporting Kansas City beat D.C. United in Kansas City, Kansas.

Gutierrez gave Sporting (3-1-1) the in the third minute with a low hard blast from the left side of the 6-yard box that deflected in off defender Frederic Brillant.

Tim Melia had three saves for his first shutout of the season. Sporting allowed at least two goals in each of its four prior games this season.

United dropped to 0-3-2.

Revolution 2, Dynamo 0: Cristian Penilla had a goal and an assist, and New England beat 10-man Houston in Houston.

Teal Bunbury opened the scoring in the 15th minute for New England (2-1-1), finishing a 4-on-2 break sprung by Penilla’s takeaway.

Houston’s DaMarcus Beasley was sent off in the 35th minute for the denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Beasley took down Penilla, who was on a breakaway.

In the 77th minute, Penilla gathered a long ball on the left flank, broke down defender Adolfo Machado with a cutback and made it 2-0 with a right-footed blast.

Houston dropped to 1-2-1.

Rapids 3, Union 0: Dominique Badji scored three goals and Colorado got its first win of the season in Commerce City, Colorado.

Badji opened the scoring in the 53rd minute with a left-footed stab that was set up by Jack Price’s corner and Tommy Smith’s header flick.

Colorado (1-1-1) doubled its lead in the 61st minute when Badji took advantage of a deflection off defender Jack Elliott. Badji completed his hat trick in 87th.

Rapids head coach Anthony Hudson earned his first MLS victory.

The Union (1-1-1) were on the road for the first time this season.

Impact 1, Sounders 0: Jeisson Vargas scored on a point-blank shot in the 60th minute to lead Montreal past short-handed Seattle in Seattle.

Montreal won its second straight after an 0-2-0 start. The Sounders are 0-3-0 for the second time in club history. They also dropped three in a row to start the 2016 season that ultimately ended with them winning MLS Cup.

Seattle, which has yet to score this season, had a player sent off with a red card for the third straight game. This time, it was defender Kelvin Leerdam in the 40th minute after he undercut Daniel Lovitz when the Impact defender leaped for a ball on the left side near midfield. As the two got up and scuffled after the foul, Leerdam slapped Lovitz on the left side of his head.

Lovitz was issued a yellow for the scuffle.