Timbers done in by Zlatan

CARSON, Calif. — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored on a pair of penalty kicks to help the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the Portland Timbers 2-1 on Sunday night.

Ibrahimovic capped the scoring in the 65th minute in his return from an Achilles injury in the opener March 2. Midfielder Romain Alessandrini also came back from a hamstring injury sustained in the opener.

The 37-year-old Ibrahimovic told reporters Friday, when asked about his ability to return from setbacks, that he needs, “20 minutes, not more.” Turns out, he wasn’t far off.

The Swedish forward clanged a remarkable shot off the post in the 16th minute before giving the Galaxy (3-1-0) a 1-0 lead in the 33rd, converting from the spot after drawing a foul on Claude Dielna in the area.

Jeremy Ebobisse side-footed a cross by David Guzman into an empty net from the top of the 6-yard box to make it 1-all just before halftime.

Portland (0-3-1) has conceded 12 goals, while scoring just five.

GALAXY 2, TIMBERS 1

Portland 1 0—1

Los Angeles 1 1—2

First half—1, Los Angeles, Ibrahimovic, 2 (penalty kick), 33rd minute; 2, Portland, Ebobisse, 2 (Guzman), 44th.

Second half—3, Los Angeles, Ibrahimovic, 3 (penalty kick), 65th.

Goalies—Portland, Jeff Attinella, Steve Clark; Los Angeles, David Bingham, Matt Lampson.

Yellow Cards—Los Angeles, dos Santos, 68th; Lletget, 75th; Ibrahimovic, 80th. Portland, Blanco, 59th; Valeri, 65th.

A—23,820.

Lineups

Los Angeles—David Bingham; Rolf Feltscher, Diego Polenta, Jorgen Skjelvik, Daniel Steres; Joe Corona, Sebastian Lletget, Jonathan dos Santos; Romain Alessandrini (Chris Pontius, 74th), Uriel Antuna (Emmanuel Boateng, 77th), Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Portland—Jeff Attinella; Julio Cascante, Claude Dielna (Lucas Melano, 87th), Jorge Moreira, Bill Tuiloma, Zarek Valentin; Sebastian Blanco, Diego Chara, David Guzman (Tomas Conechny, 90th), Diego Valeri; Jeremy Ebobisse (Andy Polo, 69th).