Dhaka, Sept. 25 -- Defensive mistakes proved costly for Bangladesh as Malaysia ran out 3-0 winners in their opening ASEAN Cup match on Thursday in Jakarta.

Bangladesh stayed with Malaysia for the opening 15 minutes at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, but once Arif Aiman broke the deadlock in the 18th minute, the game seemed to slip away.

Aiman opened the scoring after finding space in a Bangladesh defence that struggled to deal with the Malaysian attack. Shakil Ahad tried to close him down but could not prevent the forward from finishing.

Bangladesh had a chance to respond in the 33rd minute. Sad Uddin's pass found Rakib Hossain inside the Malaysia penalty area, but the forward was closely marked and could not get his shot away.

Five minute...