Kolkata giants East Bengal, who have won the Durand Cup no less than 16 times, had a nightmare of a day as they were hammered 4-0 by JCT, Phagwara, in a league match of the tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday.
The red and gold brigade was made to look distinctly lacklustre by the north Indian side, which scored through Parveen Kumar (21st minute), Nigerians Sunday Ambrose (62nd) and Adebayo Tokunbo (81st).
To make matters worse, M Suresh scored a bizarre own goal to sum up matters for the team from the eastern metropolis.
In the other quarter-final league match in the same group, Dempo Sports Club, Goa, rode on a late winner to get past defending champions Army XI 2-1.
Dempo opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Anthony Pereira, while Vijay Thapa equalised a couple of minutes later.
The Goan outfit clinched three points through Joaquim Abranches in the 89th minute.
East Bengal betrayed their lack of preparation and co-ordination in their miserable performance. There were precious few threatening moves and the defence also looked jittery.
The team from Punjab, on the other hand, looked compact and Harish Sharma and Parveen were a constant threat to the rival defence.
The three Nigerians -- Chidi Edeh, Adebayo and Ambrose were also impressive.
