The onus was on Laos to bounce back after their opening day defeat to Vietnam, and pressed the issue from the get-go, but it was Malaysia who enjoyed the best of starts with Safawi’s volley finding the back of the net in the seventh minute, courtesy of Arif Aiman’s assist. 

Safawi was at it again in the 34th minute when he rose high to head home Arif Aiman’s corner kick to give Malaysia a two-goal lead heading into the break. 

Head coach V. Sundramoorthy made three changes and Laos saw more goalmouth action but found Malaysia goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi a stumbling block. 

Laos’ aggressive approach, however, cost them as they were caught out by a quick counter-attacking move in the 78th minute with Shahrul Saad finishing off a superb run to make it 3-0. 

Safawi completed his hat-trick just two minutes later after beating the offside trap to collect Kogileswaran Raj’s cross over the Laos backline, calmly slotting past goalkeeper Keo-Oudone Souvannasangso. 

Malaysia take on defending champions Vietnam on Sunday while Laos face Indonesia. 

Having sat out of the Matchday One action, Indonesia burst out of the gates as they opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute through Rachmat Irianto’s header from a corner set-piece, before captain Evan Dimas doubled their lead in the 17th minute. 

Indonesia’s control over the match continued with Rachmat bagging his second goal of the night after rising highest to head in Pratama Arhan’s corner, but Cambodia pulled one back four minutes later through Yue Safy’s header. 

Cambodia, desperate to get their campaign back on track after their opening day loss to Malaysia, came out strongly in the second half but Indonesia were unstoppable as they scored their fourth when Ramai Rumakiek let loose a superb shot from inside the box. 

Cambodia continued pressing with Prak Mony Udom firing a crackling free-kick into the net on the hour mark but there was to be no comeback.  

Cambodia are next in action against Laos next Wednesday.