Zlatan Ibrahimovic makes good on his best player in MLS declaration with hat trick

Zlatan Ibrahimovic made good on his declaration that he is the best player in MLS.

Ahead of Friday night’s “El Trafico” between Los Angeles rivals Galaxy and LAFC, Ibrahimovic told ESPN’s “Ahora o Nunca” that he is better than LAFC star Carlos Vela, who leads the league in goals.

“By far, because if he’s in his prime. How old is he? Twenty-nine,” said Ibrahimovic. “And he’s playing in MLS and he’s in his prime. When I was 29 [I was in Europe]. Big difference.”

Ibrahimovic doubled down before the game, saying he was the best player in MLS. The Swedish player lived up his declaration by scoring a beautiful goal to tie the match in the eighth minute:

Zlatan talked the talk, then he walked the walk pic.twitter.com/USrNFnVs88

— ESPN (@espn) July 20, 2019

Then he scored again to break the tie:

Another goal, and the lead.

Zlatan delivers, again pic.twitter.com/LxXKbPhat2

— ESPN (@espn) July 20, 2019

And for good measure, the Galaxy star completed the hat trick in the 70th minute:

ZLATAN HAT TRICK! #ElTrafico pic.twitter.com/SlB4VSkQHV

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 20, 2019

Vela did score both of LAFC’s goals, giving him a league-best 21 goals on the season.