LAHORE, June 5: Defending champions India managed to edge past Pakistan 2-1 in the third Group ‘A’ match of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship at the National Stadium, Male, Maldives on Thursday.

It was Pakistan’s second consecutive defeat after losing the opener 3-0 to co-hosts Maldives. With only one match remaining (against Nepal) now, Pakistan are left with very little chance to remain in the competition.

This was India’s 12th win in about 22 international encounters between the neighbouring countries.

India now leads Group ‘A’ with six points, followed by Maldives (three points) while Pakistan and Nepal are still without any points.

India, the four-time winners of the event, opened the proceedings with a quick success in the shape of a free-kick but Renedy’s kick went straight into keeper Bilal Rafiq’s hands. Two minutes later, Pakistan forced an opportunity but captain Zahid Hameed’s shot from close quarters was punched away by the Indian keeper.

The Indians drew first blood in the 25th minute when PIA’s Bilal Rafiq failed to capture N.P. Pradeep’s (Mahindra Unided) low drive from outside the box. Pakistan lost a great chance to score three minutes later when Qasim managed to take the ball inside India’s box but he was tackled well by an Indian defender.

The dying moments of the first half saw India doubling their lead. Steven Dias, also of Mahindra United, collected a through pass from skipper Baichung Bhutia to do the rest, beating Bilal on the way. Pakistan, who were playing without their highly-ranked stopper Zesh Rehman, sent in Arif Mehmood, Farooq Shah and Abdul Aziz as substitutes in place of Atif Bashir, Muhammad Qasim and Muhammad Irfan in their quest for goals.

Their pressure finally earned them a face-saving goal in the 88th minute of the match when Trabnmere Rover’s Adnan Farooq Ahmed met the corner kick of skipper Zahid Hameed with a perfect leap to steer it past keeper Subrata Paul (East Bengal).