A pair of first half strikes were too much for the Sounders to overcome as the LA Galaxy raced to a empathic 3-0 victory over Seattle Sunday night at the Stubhub Center to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Dom Kinnear introduced a 4-4-2 formation with Jona dos Santos and Sebastian Lletget pairing in the middle at the expense of Perry Kitchen.

The move paid off dividends. LA looked sharped overall and when Brad Smith tripped Ola Kamara in the box, Zlatan put away the penalty kick and the Galaxy were up early. The Norwegian international would score a vintage goal in the 40th minute reminiscent of his time in Columbus, sprinting into the area to put away Romain Alessandrini’s low cross at the far post following a brilliant through ball from Ibra.

Romain & Ibra work well on the left side to leave @OlaKamara with a tap in! #LAvSEA pic.twitter.com/4ibW02ftSh — LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) September 24, 2018

Emmanuel Boateng earned a rare start and the Ghanian rewarded Kinnear by poking home a loose ball in the box to complete the rout. LA battle the Vancouver Whitecaps next week in another must-win match.