FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Impact head coach Mauro Biello had his eye on next week's playoff game when constructing his lineup for Sunday's season finale against the New England Revolution.

Having already clinched a playoff spot, Biello made eight changes to the team that had played Toronto FC last week to give some of his regulars a break.

That worked in New England's favour. Diego Fagundez scored in the 13th minute and Juan Agudelo and Kei Kamara added second-half goals as Revolution beat Montreal 3-0.

Montreal (11-11-12) squandered an opportunity to earn a home game in the knockout round. As the No. 5 seed, the Impact will travel to fourth-seeded D.C. United on Thursday.

"We're turning our focus to our knockout round game," said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. "Playing a game on Wednesday or Thursday dictated my decisions to rest certain players today. We want to give ourselves the best possible chance of winning that midweek game.

"Today, we pushed for the equalizer, and their 'keeper made two good saves when the outcome of the game could have changed. We move forward."

New England (11-14-9) tied Philadelphia for sixth place in the Eastern Conference but missed the final playoff spot due to trailing the Union by seven goals in the differential tiebreaker.

Fagundez opened the scoring with a free kick that nicked the inside of the right post on its way into the goal.

Agudelo doubled the lead with a deep left-footed strike in the 60th minute and Kamara capped the scoring with a low skidder in the 71st.

Three homegrown players got the nod for the Impact — defender Wandrille Lefevre, forward Anthony Jackson-Hamel and winger David Choiniere, who impressive on his MLS debut.

"These circumstances weren't the best, but I'll make the most of what I'm given," said Choiniere. "I'm satisfied with my overall performance in my first MLS game. We couldn't take the game to them more and create more chances, but I'm glad that I could make my debut."

— With files from The Canadian Press