CINCINNATI — For the first time since October 14, 2020, the Crew lost to FC Cincinnati.

The last two years of the "Hell is Real" rivalry have featured home wins and road draws for the Crew, but Saturday night at TQL Stadium, league-leading FC Cincinnati came out on top as the Crew fell 3-2.

It was a nightmarish start for the Crew. Coach Wilfried Nancy stressed the importance of not being caught up in the emotions of the rivalry and the atmosphere, but the Crew visibly were overwhelmed for the first 30 minutes as FC Cincinnati built a 2-0 lead. The Crew came back to tie the game by the 52nd minute, but a gaffe in playing out from the back by goalkeeper Patrick Schulte gave FC Cincinnati an open net to score the game-winner in the 67th minute.

"The way we conceded the two goals, for me, have been the summary of the first half," Nancy said. "We gave the goals. When we scored the goal, we showed more personality. The second half, I’m not surprised that we were able to come back to 2-2, because we showed personality. After that, the third goal, this is difficult for everyone."

Normally a possession-dominant team, the Crew appeared content to play against the ball in the game's opening minutes, and FC Cincinnati didn't create much in the attacking third through the first 15 minutes. Forward Dominique Badji proved challenging for the Crew's inexperienced back line to contain, and he made the Crew pay in the sequences leading to each of FC Cincinnati's first two goals.

In the 17th minute, Badji worked around defender Gustavo Vallecilla on the edge of the 18-yard box and hit a pullback to Acosta standing unmarked in the center of the area, who easily finished the opportunity. And six minutes later, Acosta again stood over the ball from the middle of the penalty area — this time, preparing to take a penalty kick after Badji was fouled by defender Philip Quinton.

Acosta calmly stepped up to take the kick and sent Schulte diving to his right as the ball sailed right down the middle of the goal. The midfielder nearly made it three goal contributions within 30 minutes as he set up forward Brandon Vazquez for a would-be third tally, but the Crew were saved by the offside flag.

After the disallowed goal, the Crew seemed to settle. Albeit 30 minutes late, the Crew got their feet under them and began to dictate the terms of the game the way Nancy wanted them to do from the beginning.

In the 40th minute, Zelarayán got the Crew back into the game. Striker Cucho Hernandez worked his way deep into the 18-yard box and found Zelarayán right at the edge of the six-yard box to convert the second goal they've combined for in as many games.

The Crew had a handful of chances to equalize before halftime, but FC Cincinnati's defense and goalkeeper Roman Celentano kept the home team in front through 45 minutes.

Unlike their slow start to the first half, the Crew started the second half with the same energy that propelled them through the final 15 minutes of the first half. They won a corner kick in the 49th minute, though nothing came of it, and attacked FC Cincinnati in waves of pressure.

In the 52nd minute, defender Malte Amundsen scored his second goal in two games, tying the game 2-2. Celentano stopped the initial shot from Hernandez with his chest, but the rebound dropped to Amundsen on the doorstep for the finish.

"Natural human reaction, when you get punched in the face twice, you react, which is what we did," midfielder Darlington Nagbe said. "Proud of the guys for that and finding a way to get two goals back."

The game was wide open in both directions after Amundsen's goal, as neither side wanted to settle for a draw. It took another 15 minutes for FC Cincinnati to break through — and when it did, it was in dramatic fashion.

Schulte came well off his line with the ball at his feet, looking to start the Crew's build-up, but the ball was taken off of him instead by Acosta and FC Cincinnati got the ball with an open net to shoot at. Quinton dropped back into goal in desperation, but midfielder Junior Moreno easily sent the ball past Quinton to put FC Cincinnati up 3-2.

"Coach emphasizes wanting to play out of the back," Schulte said. "I made a mistake. It was not my brightest moment. Looking for options and obviously knew Acosta was on my hip. Should’ve obviously just got rid of it. Played on the ball too long."

The Crew held much of the possession from that point on. Defender Steven Moreira scored at the death for the Crew to salvage a draw the last time these two teams met, and he had a chance for another miracle tying goal in the 93rd minute, but his header was saved by Celentano's fingertips.

And in the game's final seconds, Celentano grabbed ahold of a long ball into the 18-yard box to extinguish the Crew's last-ditch hopes at another dramatic ending.

"We were down at certain moments and we were able to go up," Nancy said. "We had the momentum. This is something that for me is really good here. After that, yes, we conceded the third goal. I have to say that this is tough, that one, but again, this is — we have to go through that. This is the way it is."

bjohnson@dispatch.com

@BaileyAJohnson_

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew lose 3-2 to FC Cincinnati in Hell is Real rivalry