Lee Nguyen was the hero as New England Revolution snapped a five-match losing streak with a 1-0 victory over 10-man New York City FC on Saturday.
The Revolution were in free-fall prior to kick-off following defeats to New York Red Bulls, FC Dallas, Vancouver Whitecaps, Columbus Crew and DC United.
But the Revolution ended the rut thanks to Nguyen, who drifted back on to his right foot and curled the ball beyond New York City goalkeeper Josh Saunders in the 12th minute at Gillette Stadium.
New York City ended the match with 10 men after Ned Grabavoy was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Daigo Kobayashi nine minutes into the second half.
The drought-breaking victory helped New England into fifth in the Eastern Conference, six points ahead of New York City.
Meanwhile, a stoppage-time defeat saw DC United's lead atop the East reduced to six points after New York Red Bulls overcame Orlando City earlier on Saturday.
Sacha Kljestan and Mike Grella were on target as the Red Bulls downed 10-man Orlando City 2-0 on the road.
And United were unable to restore their nine-point cushion after Fabian Castillo - named in the All-Star squad - struck in the second minute of injury time to lift Western Conference pacesetters FC Dallas to a 2-1 win.
Italian star Sebastian Giovinco proved too hot to handle as Toronto FC trumped Philadelphia Union 2-1.
Giovinco, who headlined the All-Star's final 22-man roster on Saturday, took his tally to 12 goals and nine assists with a 32nd-minute strike, three minutes after Marky Delgado had put Toronto in front.
Substitute Conor Casey netted a late consolation for the Union.
In other results, Kevin Doyle helped Colorado Rapids to a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Seattle Sounders.
Real Salt Lake accounted for Houston Dynamo 2-0, first-half goals to All-Star Ben Feilhaber and Dominic Dwyer saw Sporting Kansas City past Montreal Impact 2-1, while Portland Timbers drew 1-1 at home to Vancouver Whitecaps.
