East Bengal FC squandered a first-half lead to suffer a 3-2 defeat against Iraqi side Al-Shorta in its second Group-D outing of the AFC Champions League Two at Salt Lake Stadium here on Tuesday.

David Hmar scored twice in the first half to put East Bengal ahead twice. He opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he shielded an Al-Shorta defender to receive Hardik Bhatt’s centre and turned sharply to complete a spectacular finishing.

Al-Shorta equalised in the 14th minute through Ahmed Yahya, who headed in from a corner.

Despite enjoying less possession, East Bengal looked more threatening on the counter-attack, registering 10 shots of which seven were on target, compared to Al-Shorta’s solitary effort on target.

The hosts regained the lead in the 41st minute after goalkeeper Jalal Hassan parried Daniel Ramirez’s free-kick. Basim Rashid recovered the ball near the goal line and delivered a back-heel, allowing David to finish from close range.

David missed two further chances before half-time to complete his hat-trick, and those misses proved costly.

Al-Shorta struck twice in quick succession after the break to turn the match around.

Hussein Al-Saedi equalised in the 51st minute before Kingsley Kuku headed home a corner from Argentine substitute Cristian Barco two minutes later.

Al-Shorta were reduced to 10 men in the 76th minute when Abdoul Magid received his second yellow card.

East Bengal pushed for an equaliser but failed to break through the visitors’ disciplined defence, leaving the home side to rue missed opportunities and a costly second-half collapse.

The result: East Bengal 2 (David Hmar 7, 41) lost to Al-Shorta 3 (Ahmed Yahya 14, Hussein Al-Saedi 51, Kingsley Kuku 53).