Dhaka: Having failed to defend its title, India salvaged some pride by defeating archrivals Pakistan with a dramatic golden goal to clinch the third place in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) tournament on Monday.

Striker Abhishek Yadav struck the brilliant golden goal early in the extra time as the Indians avenged last week's defeat at the hands of its bitter rivals with a 2-1 victory in a fast-paced and surcharged encounter at the Bangabandhu National stadium.

The depleted Indians, fighting for the third position after its quest for a hat- trick of titles was brought to an end by Bangaldesh in the semi-finals on Saturday, appeared more determined to make amends for its shock defeat in the inaugural match.

Veteran striker I M Vijayan, who has been hardly impressive right through the championship, put the defending champions in the lead in the 66th minute of the contest, heading in a cross from Alvito D'Cunha.

But the euphoria was short lived as the Pakistanis restored parity within four minutes with the hard-working Sarfaraz Rasool heading home a pass from Ayaz Mohammad.

It was Abhishek Yadav who came to the rescue of the Indians by producing a gem of a goal in the ninth minute of extra time after both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time.

The young Yadav showed fine reflexes as he brilliantly headed in a cross from Roberto Fernandes much to the delight of his teammates. The Pakistani custodian made a desperate attempt but could not stop the ball from going in.

Although the Indians enjoyed territorial advantage for most part of the contest, they were guilty of squandering a number of scoring opportunities that came their way.

The Indians, who had won the title in the last two editions of the tournament, had lost to hosts Bangladesh 1-2 in the semi-final on Saturday. Pakistan had lost to Maldives by a solitary goal in the other semi-final.

PTI