Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his third career MLS hat trick, Sebastian Lletget also struck for a brace and the LA Galaxy made a statement while moving above the Western Conference playoff line with a 7-2 demolition of Sporting Kansas City on Sunday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.
In the process, Ibrahimovic set a new Galaxy club record by moving to 26 goals on the season, surpassing the 24 goals Carlos Ruiz scored back in 2002. He's now within two of LAFC's Carlos Vela in pursuit of the 2019 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi.
Joe Corona and Uriel Antuna added goals for the Galaxy, who moved up three spots into fifth in the West standings after beginning the night outside the seven-team West playoff field. It was the third time LA have scored seven goals in an MLS match, and the first since 1998, after an eight-match stretch in which they had only earned five points to slide down the conference standings.
Felipe Gutierrez scored both goals for Kansas City, coming on either side of seven unanswered by the hosts. Coach Peter Vermes' squad is now six points beneath the playoff line with only four matches remaining.
