Malaysia have sent out an early warning sign to their Group B rivals as they defeated Cambodia 3-1 to make a winning start at the 2020 AFF Suzuki Cup.

A first half penalty from Safawi Rasid set Malaysia on their way before Akhyar Rashid doubled the lead just after the hour.

Substitute Kogileswaran Raj then added a third in the 79th minute before Sath Rosib slotted home a late penalty for Cambodia, with Malaysian coach Tan Cheng Hoe calling the win a positive start but one where there are still areas that need to be addressed.

“I’m very pleased overall with the performance although you could see we struggled early with momentum and the way that we wanted to play but definitely we need to improve in certain areas.”

The match started at a good intensity with both teams looking to push forward but it was Malaysia that had the best of the early chances as firstly Safawi unleashed a powerful effort from distance that Keo Soksela parried wide in the seventh minute before the lively Akhyar won the penalty that set the 2018 runners-up on their way.

The winger was clipped by Ken Chansopheak after he powered into the box, with Safawi stepping up to the spot and sending the Cambodian keeper the wrong way to establish a 23rd minute lead.

Akhyar continued to be a real threat down the left for Harimau Malaya and he had a pair of good efforts just shy of the half hour before Cambodia saw their best moments come via a string of consecutive corners that grazed the bar and saw Khairul Fahmi pull off a strong close-range save as the teams went to the break with Malaysia holding a slender advantage.

Cambodia continued to look lively early in the second half but were stung on the counter as Syafiq Ahmad released Akhyar who danced into the box on his left, cut back on his right and fired past Soksela to make it 2-0 in the 61st minute.

Still Cambodia looked to push forward and substitute Nhean Sosidan launched a powerful effort from distance after the ball fell to him from a corner in the 68th minute before Safawi should have done better from next to the penalty spot as his tame shot went straight at Soksela two minutes later.

Malaysia then added a third as two substitutes combined with Luqman Hakim racing down the right and sending in a well weighted pass that Kogileswaran blasted home after a late run into the box in the 79th minute for his first international goal.

Cambodia scored a late consolation as substitute Rosib converted a fairly soft penalty in the 91st minute to round out the 3-1 scoreline, a result that coach Ryu Hirose termed disappointing but one where positives can be taken.

“It’s a disappointing loss but I thought we played well and could keep the ball well against a strong opponent like Malaysia.

“Obviously we won’t give up and we saw a lot of good points during the game where we could keep our basic principle of maintaining possession which was something that we haven’t been able to do previously.”