FOXBOROUGH - Despite extending its unbeaten run to five games, É«É«À² FC was officially eliminated from MLS playoff contention Saturday in a 1-1 draw at the New England Revolution.
It was a game all too familiar for Robin Fraser’s team. After a slow start and having to deal with several injuries, É«É«À² was rewarded when it went ahead in the 75th minute on a Theo Corbeanu goal.
Djordje Mihailovic’s sweeping pass found Corbeanu in open space down the right flank. The winger outfoxed defender Tanner Beason before sliding a low shot past goalkeeper Matt Turner for his sixth of the season.
But all that hard work was negated by a fluke-ish 90th-minute goal by Luca Langoni that went through a crowd of bodies, deflecting off defender Sigurd Rosted past goalkeeper Luka Gavran.
“At the end of the day I’m disappointed for them. I’m not disappointed in them,” Fraser said of his players.
“I sound like a broken record week after week talking to them,” he added. “I want them to feel the reward of their work. It’s difficult to watch them put in a shift as they have really for maybe two months now. The work has been incredible, incredibly cohesive and very much as a team. But when they don’t get the three points, they don’t feel the reward of all their hard work.”
New England also faced playoff elimination, but dodged the bullet when the Chicago Fire lost 3-1 to New York City FC.
É«É«À² has not lost since a 2-0 setback at Charlotte FC on July 26. It has drawn its last five games, conceding just four goals in total against Philadelphia, Columbus, Atlanta, Montreal and New England with three of the contests on the road.
Saturday’s game was a scrappy affair with both two sides lacking bite in front of goal for most of the evening at Gillette Stadium. Going into the match, New England was tied for 18th in goals scored while É«É«À² was tied for 28th.
New England (8-14-8) outshot É«É«À² 11-9 but TFC had a 5-4 edge in shots on target.
É«É«À²’s trainers were busy on the night.
TFC, having already lost defenders Henry Wingo, Zane Monlouis and Nicksoen Gomis for the rest of the season, saw veteran centre back Kevin Long — playing in his 50th MLS game — exit in the 16th minute after going down clutching the back of his leg.
Captain Jonathan Osorio was forced to leave in the 52nd minute, also feeling the back of his leg. Forward Deandre Kerr needed treatment midway through the half after landing awkwardly but made it to the 53rd minute before giving way.Â
New England went into weekend play in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, two places and six points ahead of É«É«À². The Revs were coming off back-to-back losses to Chicago and Charlotte.
TFC last made the playoffs in 2020 when it fell at the first hurdle, losing 1-0 after extra time to expansion Nashville after finishing second in the East at 23-5-13.
Since then, É«É«À² has gone 35-88-42 in regular-season play, finishing 26th, 27th, 29th and 22nd in the Supporters’ Shield Standings. TFC went into weekend play 26th overall.
With 15 players on expiring contracts, Fraser and GM Jason Hernandez have decisions to make with five games remaining in the regular season.
Hence the decision to give Gavran his second league start of the season, leaving No. 1 Sean Johnson on the bench.
“The club has taken a stance that we want to look at some of the young players. We have obviously a lot of decisions to make at the end of the year and we have some good young players that we need to look at and see them in actual game situations,” said Fraser.Â
Fraser made five changes to his starting lineup including Gavran.
Ecuador midfielder Jose Cifuentes made his first start for É«É«À² after a 16-minute cameo off the bench against Montreal with Raoul Petretta and 19-year-old Lazar Stefanović slotting in the backline and Kerr up front.
Fullback/wingback Richie Laryea came off the bench in the 78th minute after travelling with Canada to Romania and Wales during the recent international window.
New England started two teenagers with 17-year-old Peyton Miller, who was exceptional on the wing, and 18-year-old Ugandan midfielder Allan Oyirwoth, making his first MLS start.
É«É«À² is 12-17-14 all-time against the Revs, including a 5-11-7 record in Foxborough, but has had success in recent trips there with a 3-1-3 record in its last seven visits dating back to August 2019.Â
UP NEXT: É«É«À² visits the Columbus Crew on Saturday while New England plays at the Philadelphia Union. Mali international defender Mamadou Fofana will sit out that game for yellow card accumulation after picking up a caution Saturday.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2025.
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