Kaya needed all three points to maintain a realistic chance of progressing to the knockout round, and they started the brighter of the two sides in this clash at Pana-ad Park and Football Stadium, sending a couple of sighters off target inside the opening 10 minutes.
Lao failed to pay heed to those warnings, and after Jordan Mintah cut inside Ketsada Souksavanh in the 11th minute and broke into the penalty area there was only going to be one outcome, with the Ghanaian poking beyond goalkeeper Outthilath Nammakhoth to make it 1-0.
Kaya continued to have the better of things as the first half progressed, penning Lao back and winning a series of corners, although Nammakhoth and his defenders stood firm for the next half an hour.
The pick of the 22-year-old’s stops came in the 40th minute, when he prevented a Darryl Roberts attempt from close range with a superb reflex save.
His joy was to be short lived, however, as Kaya doubled their lead from the resultant corner.
Roberts headed back into the danger area from the far post, with Connor Tacagni waiting to nod home. Nammakhoth was forced to hobble off injured before play restarted, being replaced by Soukthavy Soundala.
Lao came close to getting back into the game with a double chance in the 60th minute, but Louie Casas first made a terrific save from Soma Otani before Rafael saw his follow-up from just outside the area hit the post.
Mintah then made it 3-0 six minutes later, latching onto a through ball and rounding Soundala before clipping home from a tight angle.
Kazuo Homma claimed a consolation for Lao with a tap-in in the 70th minute, but substitute Yannick Tuason ensured there would be no late drama by adding Kaya’s fourth in the 86th minute, before Mintah wrapped up his hat-trick with an emphatic drive with one minute left.
The action in Group H will wrap up on May 14, when Kaya travel to Singapore to take on last year’s ASEAN Zonal champions Home United, while Lao’s participation in this year’s competition will conclude when they welcome PSM Makassar of Indonesia to the National Stadium in Vientiane.
