GUANGZHOU, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Guangzhou Evergrande fumbled the lead twice on home turf and were eliminated by Tianjin Quanjian on away goals in a 2-2 thriller at the second leg of AFC Champions League last 16 clash here on Tuesday.
Ricardo Goulart gifted Evergrande the lead twice, but Pato and Wang Jie's equalizers silenced Tianhe Stadium.
Evergrande's coach Fabio Cannavaro admitted his regret after the loss, he said:"I feel regret, we are eliminated in this important event. But we should put it aside and work hard to establish the confidence."
Evergrande and Quanjian played out a goalless draw last week which means Evergrande needed a victory to go through. Both sides opted to start all the four foreign players and fielded almost their strongest starting line-up. Evergrande's captain Zheng Zhi returned to action to partner with Nemanja Gudelj and Huang Bowen in the midfield while Quanjian missed winger Sun Ke.
Evergrande pressed high from the start, trying to use their aggression and tempo to good effect. Quanjian defender Kwon Kyungwon risked an own goal when intercepting a pass before Alan's header on Gudelj's pass skimmed past the post.
Evergrande took the lead on 17 minutes when Alan cut inside from the left and unleashed an angled drive, goalkeeper Zhang Lu parried it away but Goulart followed to bundle it over the line.
However, the away side responded quickly just 2 minutes later, Belgian international Axel Witsel's lobbed pass found Pato rising between defenders in the box for a header that went beyond Zeng Cheng.
Alan's drill in a close range stunned Zhang Lu in the 22nd minute while Gao Lin's daisy-cutter out of the box whistled past the upright.
Zhang Lu continued his great performance as he needed a double-save on Li Xuepeng and Gao Lin's attempts.
The hosts restored the lead through series of corners just 3 minutes into the second-half, Zhang Lu had nothing to do when Goulart send his glancing header into the net corner.
Quanjian put them back on level terms again on 52 minutes, Pato's free kick found Wang Yongpo who squared for Wang Jie to hit in a half-volley.
Anthony Modeste had the ball in the net on 55 minutes but were flagged offside.
Quanjian were increasingly pegged back after that and created chances on counter while Evergrande started to besiege but were toothless to turn it around.
