I find Zlatan Ibrahimovic to be a bit of a knob, and he’ll never be spoken of in the same bracket as the likes of Messi and Ronaldo, but there’s no denying that his Major League Soccer (MLS) debut was one for the ages.

The arrogant Swede has made a habit out of scoring on his club debuts over the years, and this time around he lit up the new Los Angeles derby.

Saturday’s match between the LA Galaxy and LA FC looked to be going the way of the away team, who had lead 3-0, but then the man of the hour entered the fray.

A quick tip of the hat to whoever dubbed the derby ‘El Tráfico’, a pun on Spain’s ‘El Clásico’ and LA’s horrendous traffic problem.

Zlatan was subbed on in the 71st minute, and as you can see he was quick to hit the ground running:

Welcome to MLS, Zlatan! #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/up0beeNtA6

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 31, 2018

America’s football commentators really can ruin a moment.

He wasn’t done, either, because as the game inched into time added on he nodded in the winner.

Cue pandemonium:

You couldn’t write a better script.

ZLATAN. STOPPAGE TIME. 4-3. #LAvLAFC https://t.co/9ya60MdXk6

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 31, 2018

That was never going to be ruled offside, so don’t bother.

You can think Zlatan is a bit of a douche and still appreciate his footballing skills, which he has now proven time and time again right around the world.

Let’s finish with a quote from the man himself:

As Zlatan himself put it afterwards in typically forthright fashion: “I can imagine LAFC [players] after winning 3-0 and losing 4-3. If they had Zlatan, it would be opposite…”

This time around, I guess he has a point.

[source:guardian]