Despite putting up a spirited fight, Mahindra United, Mumbai lost 2-4 to Oman's Dhoffar Club in an exciting match of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup 2004 in Oman.

Trailing by four goals, Mahindra came back strongly in the second half as Felix Aboagy and Raphael Patron scored one goal each to narrow the victory margin for the hosts on Wednesday night.

Also Read East Bengal hold Geylang

Some one thousand fans turned up to watch the contest, which was telecast live by the Oman television.

In the first leg match between the two sides at Margao, Goa in February, Mahindra had beaten Dhoffar 2-1.

Yesterday's match saw both the teams playing well in the initial stage but Dhoffar drew first blood in the 25th minute. Before the half time whistle was blown, Dhoffar added two more goals to their tally.

The home side raced to a comfortable 4-0 lead within a minute of resumption soon after which Mahindra, who were needing just one point to move into the quarter-finals, rallied back strongly.

Some poor decision by one of the referees marred Mahindra's prospects as the visitors were denied what appeared to be a clear penalty in the second half. The referee had earlier also awarded a dubious penalty to Dhoffar.