The New England Revolution suffered a 2-1 defeat on Saturday evening but head coach Marko Mitrovic is still pleased with how his team performed.

The match got off to a poor start, with New England making mistakes that have become far less common under Mitrovic. A turnover and stumble from Mamadou Fofana allowed Kyogo Furuhashi to break free with only goalkeeper Matt Turner to beat.

But Will Sands raced back to try an bail out Fofana but he took down Furuhashi in the box – after appearing to get a touch on the ball – and a penalty kick was given. Marco Reus stepped to the spot and calmly converted in the 11th minute.

New England would mount a quality attack in the aftermath of the goal but was unable to find the back of the net. In the 33rd minute, LA stormed up the pitch and Robert Taylor received the ball in the center of the box and after Sands slipped, Taylor managed to double the lead for the home side.

New England again pushed into the final third but failed to finish. Luca Langoni earned a penalty kick late in the match, but it proved too little, too late.

“We always try to play the action on the field that is not connected with the score," Mitrovic said after the match. "I think we stayed calm after [being down] 1-0, and we started to get in good spots. Then they scored that second goal, and I think we finished the first half - In one way, we were down 2-0, but ‘OK, let's regroup in the second half.’ I think we opened the second half immediately with great opportunities in their box.

“I felt that in any given moment, we would score," the head coach added. "Even when we scored in the 96th minute, I still felt that we could get there if we got one more attack, and we had that situation on the left side. But I would say the most important thing is that we found our success in a way that we can create and generate so many situations on the field. We just have to keep going. It doesn't matter what the score is in that moment. We just have to take the most out of every action on the field.”

While New England's chance creation remains encouraging, a lack of finishing continues to linger. The issue has plagued the Revolution for weeks, and Dor Turgeman's performance on Saturday indicates a solution remains elusive.

"On one side, I’m happy with the way we are creating [chances] right now," Mitrovic said. "Game after game, we are in good conditions to create those situations, to score goals. This game, it didn't go our way.

"We’ve had a couple similar games," he added. "If you remember the game against Toronto [on August 15], kind of similar, where we created a lot, but we just couldn't score. And you have nights like that. We played against a very good team. Also, creating so much against teams like LA Galaxy and having control of the game almost the full 90 minutes, is something that is positive. We just have to keep working, keep getting in those spots, keep creating those situations, and look forward to score goals.”

Several factors stacked the odds against New England, despite the Revolution outperforming LA for much of the season and match. The Revolution traveled across the country while still awaiting key contributors like Ilay Feingold and Langoni to return to full fitness.

Fans got a glimpse of how much of an impact Langoni can have with him earning a penalty kick shortly after entering the match. Carles Gil similarly matched Marco Reus' effort with a clinical finish for a consolation goal for New England.

With three goals and six assists on the season, Langoni should aid in the goal-scoring department as well as creating chances.

“It’s another great addition to the squad," Jack Harrison said. "You can see the influence that he had straight away in the game. I know he’s been working hard to get back to fitness and get back on the pitch. I’m really happy for him to get back on the pitch and have that impact too. You guys probably know better than I do. I see a lot in training, but everybody knows his quality and what he can bring. He’s another exciting player that we can add to our squad."