East Bengal paid a heavy price for inept defending and went down 2-4 to Jordan's Al Wihdat in an action-packed AFC Cup Group B outing in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Riding high after two successive wins, the red and gold brigade's quarter-final hopes hit a speed breaker as the Jordanians avenged their April 2 loss in Amman.
The Salt Lake stadium encounter saw a thrilling first half, when all the goals were scored before around 10,000 spectators.
Playing a coordinated game, the visitors took early initiative with Rafat Jaber and Hassan Mahmoud striking a brace each.
Brazilian Edmilson and Syed Rahim Nabi netted for East Bengal, who remained on six points after four matches.
The Jordanians exploited the locals' weak defence and carried out fast moves down the right flank which found East Bengal left back Debabrata Roy at sea.
Wihdat drew first blood as early as the sixth minute, when Jaber let go a right footer into the net following a measured pass from playmaker Amer Khalil. The East Bengal defenders were left stranded on the same line when Khalil, the livewire of the visitors' moves, addressed the centre.
East Bengal drew level five minutes later, as Edmilson did the spadework and set up Nabi with an aerial pass for him to put home.
Wihdat regained the lead in the 23rd minute, with Mahmoud outwitting Debabrata Roy and feeding Jaber, who did the finishing with a left footer.
Within four minutes, East Bengal restored parity as medio Mehtab Hossain released Edmilson, and the Brazilian received well on his left foot before switching control to the right to unleash a firm shot that rocketed into the net.
However, the Jordanians wrested control at the half hour mark, with Khalil sending a centre from the right and Hassan Mahmoud tapping home, and Roy again being a silent spectator.
Wihdat widened the gulf three minutes later, utilising a mistake by Mehtab.
The medio unnecessarily sent a long back pass, which was intercepted by an unmarked Mahmoud, who got to the ball at walking pace, and guided it to the left of a diving East Bengal custodian Subrata Paul. The grounder struck the post, and then went in, much to the dismay of the East Bengal supporters.
After half a dozen goals in the opening session, the second half looked lacklustre, as the two sides dished out a slow variety of the game.
East Bengal's Ike Ibe Gift squandered an opportunity in the 53rd minute, when he dilly-dallied while taking a shot.
A little later, there was action at the other end, with Jaber feeding Issa Al Sapah, who blew over from close.
East Bengal were reduced to ten men for the last 15 minutes, when Edmilson received marching orders after receiving his second yellow booking for kicking rival defender Hayder Kadhem.
