The Crew looked like it had three points secured heading into extra time against Atlanta United. The home team had other ideas.

After Kevin Molino recorded a foul six minutes into extra time, and one minute after checking in for Diego Rossi, Miles Robinson connected on the free kick score, putting a header past Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte off a cross from Thiago Almada, securing the 1-1 tie Saturday night.

The Crew remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference after earning one point on the road.

“We were too naive with the way we defended this one," Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said after the game.

After making substitutions for Yevhen Cheberko due to cramps, and Diego Rossi and Alex Matan due to fatigue, Nancy said Molino was "clumsy" but admits it was a "difficult moment."

Nancy reiterated that he still has trust in Molino in those late-game moments, even after he recorded a foul that led to the game-winning score against Orlando City FC.

“The foul, I think we can avoid this foul," Nancy said. "It could be a soft one, but yes, you have to call the foul because his back was to the goal and he didn’t touch the ball yet."

On the set piece, Nancy said the crew lost their one-on-one assignments while the ball was in the air. After the game, Julian Gressel said Robinson, who he thought lined up a bit offside, was standing in his zone with Aidan Morris marking hm, leading to a bit of miscommunication.

"Is it a foul leading up to it, I’m not sure," Gressel said. "Can we maybe defend better in that moment and not give up a set piece? I don’t know, I haven't seen it. Obviously, when it comes to that, I think we got to be a little bit better (at) defending it. But it’s also a heck of a ball from Almada and a good finish from Miles."

After a first half that saw 11 shots — only one of which was on goal — the Crew ramped up its offensive pressure in the second half, forcing four saves by Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan in the first 13 minutes.

But in the 65th minute, Aidan Morris found a crack in Atlanta’s defense, passing the ball to Cucho Hernandez, who connected on his 15th goal of the season between two defenders.

The Crew finished with 22 shots, including six shots-on-target, compared to Atlanta Union’s 10 shots, three of which were saved by Schulte

With Malte Amundsen out with a yellow card suspension, Cheberko was inserted into Wilfried Nancy’s starting lineup for the first time since the Crew’s Aug. 30 loss to Houston Dynamo FC. Cheberko was one of four defenders on the field, along with Sean Zawadski, who played left wingback in his second straight start, Steven Moreira and Camacho.

Zawadski saw multiple scoring opportunities, including a combination with Alex Matan in the first minute of the second half which was called back when Zawadski was called offside.

Saturday also proved to be a homecoming for Gressel and Darlington Nagbe. Both helped Atlanta United win the MLS Cup in 2018 and shared the same roster in 2018 and 2019.

But it was a homecoming that ended in a frustrating way for Gressel.

"There’s obviously a lot of different ways you could look at this in terms of how well we played — we could have probably scored a couple more goals as well on the day," Gressel said. "Unfortunately we conceded a stupid goal like that again."

The Crew head into an international break next week before they host CF Montreal at Lower.com Field Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. to end the 2023 regular season.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew concedes free kick goal, ties Atlanta United