Mahindra United failed to capitalise on chances that came their way and went down 1-2 to Lebanon's Al Nejmeh club in the first leg of the AFC Cup quarter-final at the Ambedkar stadium in Delhi on Tuesday.
The Mumbai outfit took the lead in the 46th minute through Mohammad Rafi but Mohammad Ghaddar scored a brace, with goals in the 55th and 85th minute.
Mahindra were playing just three days after their Federation Cup final final loss to East Bengal in Ludhiana, and the defeat added to their disappointment. They looked visibly fatigued towards the end of the match.
Derrick Pereira's side now face a Herculean task of securing a big victory in the return leg at Beirut on September 25 if they are to remain in the tournament.
The first half was evenly contested but it was the home side which had the better chances.
In the 18th minute, N P Pradeep found himself free in the box but his header off a Steven Dias corner went just over.
Dias then found himself in a good position inside the box but delayed, resulting in the chance going abegging.
Just before half-time, Ghana's Andrews Pomeyie latched on to a long clearance from the defence and beat a couple of defenders with his pace and strength. But his shot beat Al Nejmeh's far post.
The match came to life just after the breather with two goals in 10 minutes.
Mahindra went ahead through another Dias corner.
Harpreet's header was blocked by Nejmeh keeper Abdo Tafeh but Rafi was the quickest to react and knocked home the rebound.
The Lebanese side restored parity on a counter-attack. Mohammad Ghaddar, one of the three internationals in the Nejmeh starting line-up, latched on to a long ball and ran past Manjit Singh and Harpreet Singh to find the net beating Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, who started in goal in place of Sandip Nandy.
Ghaddar was the star of the Lebanese side and could have scored off a volley which went over from close range.
Pereira realised that he needed a victory on home turf and put on Minga Edson Dico for Rafi.
Pomeyie wasted a good opportunity, unable to turn Djidja Pierre's pass into goal when in the six-yard box.
The Mumbai team went on the attack but left gaps in the defence.
International Khaled Hamieh took advantage of the spaces when his centre found the unmarked head of Ghaddar whose powerful header gave Roy Chowdhury no chance.
Just before the goal, Ghaddar beat the off-side trap but delayed his shot, allowing the Mahindra defenders to recover.
Mahindra were struggling now and Ante Milas could have added a third in the 90th when he was left unmarked in the penalty box, but miscued his shot.
