LA Galaxy, Vela, Zlatan... MLS week 11 highlights
The notable moments of Week 11 included great strikes from Carlos Vela and Pity Martínez goals, Zlatan Ibrahimovic latest on-field spat and a new defeat for LA Galaxy.
MLS Week 11 came to a close with DC United facing Sporting Kansas City, with Wayne Rooney's side requiring a win to stay in touch at the top of the Eastern Conference, which they did by the bare minimum - Paul Arriola breaking the deadlock on 77 minutes.
Among the highlights of the weekend was Carlos Vela finding the net to go top of the league goals table, LA Galaxy's ongoing negative run, Zlatan in hot water and Pity Martínez's first goal in the MLS.
LA Galaxy's poor run continues
After a great start to the season for the LA Galaxy with seven wins, one draw and one defeat; Ibra's side find themselves in a rut after losing the last three games.
The team's slump began with a 3-2 defeat ar the Red Bull Arena. That was followed by a 3-1 defeat to Columbus Crew four days later. This weekend it became three defeats in a row as it was NYCFC who served out the punishment. It was also Galaxy's first home defeat of the campaign - before this weekend, they had a 100% record at Dignity Health Sports Park with six wins from six.
Zlatan's new clash
Ibrahimovic has failed to score in his last two outings, but he still hitting the headlines for other reasons. The LA Galaxy captain's was involved in a heated dispute with with NYCFC goalkeeper, Sean Johnson, an incident that earned both players a yellow card.
Vela moves away from Zlatan in the scoring charts
Los Angeles FC captain Carlos Vela scored the winning goal for his team in the 3-0 victory over Columbus Crew, and as so often the case for Bob Bradley's side, he played a key part in the win.
Vela scored from outside the box to fire home the last goal of the game and has now bagged 12 goals in 12 games played. The LAFC striker is now ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who sits in second in the ranking with three goals less.
Pity's first goal in the MLS
Pity Martínez arrived in Atlanta hoping to become one of the top MLS players, but former River Plate player had a rough start in the American league, and after ten matches in the States, he finally managed to open his account.
Martínez goal gave the 'Five Stripes' its fourth consecutive victory - that run has taken Frank de Boer's side back to the playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.