by The Revolution defeated to CF Montreal 3-1 on Friday night at Gillette Stadium. With the loss, New England’s losing streak now stands at nine games, matching the previous unblemished streak. Additionally, it was the team’s second consecutive home loss and their third in a row.
In other words, the loss to a team that even gained all three points that evening is still last in the Eastern Conference set a new low for Caleb Porter’s squad.
Naturally, statistically speaking, New England is not much better right now, since they are still stuck in 11th place, eight points outside the current playoff line.
After just three minutes, the Revolution took a 1-0 lead thanks to a brilliant pass from Carles Gil to Tom Chancalay as the game started.
However, the Revolution defense was unable to maintain the lead for more than a few seconds, as has become all too typical to New England fans watching in dismay. Six minutes later, Prince Owusu’s turn and finish inside the box gave Montreal the lead.
Then, in the 36th minute, a Revolution midfield error resulted in a goal for Montreal from Dante Sealy, giving the visitors the lead. Olger Escobar, a former Revolution academy player who was traded to Montreal in April, applied the insurance goal for the away team in stoppage time, but halftime adjustments to the New England roster and formation failed to alter the score.
For Revolution supporters, the following are some lessons learned from a challenging evening:
The bad run continued, and in the worst possible way.
The Revolution’s most recent victory over Montreal occurred on May 31. According to hindsight, the 3-0 victory that evening might have been New England’s pinnacle in 2025. It ended a protracted stretch of away games and was the pinnacle of the team’s nine-game league winning streak.
However, New England has only regressed since then. Over the next three games of the homestand, the club managed to earn just one point out of a potential nine, and they haven’t won since.
The most recent loss, which came against a Montreal squad that was virtually anchored to the bottom of the standings and looked so beatable in May, feels like a warning. Porter and his club are already losing the chance to qualify for the playoffs.
The way the team took a rapid lead and then absolutely faltered for the remainder of the game was especially painful for the spectators, who expressed their discontent with a chorus of jeers (both at halftime and after the final whistle).
Plenty of crosses, but no end product.
Despite New England’s very low xG rating (1.11 according to FotMob), several excellent crosses were left unnoticed.
For the majority of the game, Luca Langoni looked lively as he was given the opportunity to play his natural position as a winger for the first time in months as Porter switched back to a 4-2-3-1. Particularly close to the conclusion of the first half, he worked well with Gil and Chancalay and produced several crosses from the right flank.
However, Leo Campana, the center forward for the Revolution who needs to be in form, was once again unable to take advantage of any of the opportunities presented to him.
Chancalay’s perfect free kick from just outside the box in the 27th minute served as an example of this. Campana was positioned directly in front of goal, so it looked like the ball was headed for his head and then the back of the net. The 25-year-old Ecuadorian, however, missed his header because he has been lacking confidence lately. In one of the game’s several instances where an excellent opportunity was utterly wasted, the chance went begging.
What does this mean for Caleb Porter s future with the club?
It is not appropriate to make casual assumptions regarding someone else’s employment position, and such conversations are not carried out carelessly. However, the hard reality is evident: The 2025 Revolution has performed as a team that is less than the sum of its members.
Porter takes accountability for the current state of affairs in his capacity as head coach. The 50-year-old, who has won the MLS Cup twice, has never hesitated to accept responsibility for his team’s performance, including Friday’s. Unfortunately for him, he might soon face dismissal as a result of that accountability.
It is reasonable to wonder if Porter would have been dismissed sooner if this had been the Patriots. After all, under comparable (though, to be clear, different) conditions, the Kraft ownership group chose to keep Porter on board while firing Jerod Mayo after one season without a playoff appearance. However, the present run has been terrible even when seen just in terms of the Revolution. The 3-0 triumph over Montreal in May is the only victory New England has had in its last 14 league games.
Due to their non-participation in the Leagues Cup, the Revolution will be taking a two-week sabbatical. If there are going to be team leadership changes before the season ends, they will probably happen soon.
Since 2016, Hayden Bird has been employed at Boston.com as a sports staff writer. He covers all aspect of New England sports.
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