Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored his sixth goal in three 2012 European Championship qualifiers to lead the Netherlands to a 1-0 victory Friday over Moldova.
Huntelaar's 37th minute strike sent the Netherlands top of Group E with maximum points, and he should have scored more to make the game safe earlier.
"We scored far too few goals," coach Bert van Marwijk said. "That allowed our opponent to stay in the match until the end."
The Netherlands' victory came despite missing six players, including Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben through injury and after Van Marwijk dropped midfielder Nigel de Jong for his challenge last weekend that broke Newcastle winger Hatem Ben Arfa's left leg in two places.
Tottenham's Rafael van der Vaart replaced De Jong, giving the Netherlands more creative options in the midfield but leaving captain Mark van Bommel as the only truly defensive midfielder. With Moldova rarely venturing forward until the very end of the match, De Jong was not missed.
And it was Van der Vaart who set up Huntelaar for his goal with a quick pass that split the Moldova defense. Huntelaar struggled to control the ball but managed to fire a shot past goalkeeper Stanislav Namasco and in off the far post.
"The first half went very well," Van der Vaart said. "It was a shame we didn't take more of our chances to make life easier."
After a tentative start, the Netherlands began making inroads through the packed Moldova defense, with Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder's darting runs and quick passes creating the most danger.
He rounded off a slick move in the 15th minute with a pass that found Huntelaar just offside and two minutes later set the Schalke striker free again but Huntelaar saw his powerful shot parried over the bar by Namasco.
From the corner Huntelaar again came close with a diving header at the far post that just looped over the bar.
He nearly doubled the Dutch lead just before the break after a quick one-two with Sneijder, but shot into the side netting.
Moldova had looked to have the first good chance of the match when Mark van Bommel gave the ball away deep in his own half, but Semion Bulgaru was flagged offside as he hit a powerful shot that Maarten Stekelenburg saved at the near post in just the second minute.
After that, Moldova rarely ventured out of its half and did not come closer than two shots before the break that both sailed well wide of Stekelenburg's goal.
"We played a very good game," said Van Bommel. "We should have made it 2-0 to finish the match off."
The Netherlands twice came close to extending its lead in the 52nd minute. First, Namasco pulled off a great save diving to his right to stop Sneijder's curling left-foot shot and then John Heitinga's header from the resulting corner smashed into the bar.
Moldova showed more attacking intent in the second half, but the closest it came to scoring was in the 64th miunute when Bulgaru headed a corner from Alexandru Suvorov and Stekelenburg easily held the effort. The Ajax keeper also comfortably blocked a long-range free kick by Vitalie Bordian in the 85th minute.
Lineups:
Moldova: Stanislav Namasco, Victor Golovatenco, Alexandru Epureanu, Petru Racu, Eugeniu Cebotaru (Valeriu Andronic, 69), Viorel Frunza (Igor Bugaev, 45), Semion Bulgaru, Vitalie Bordian, Anatolie Doros (Nicolae Josan, 78), Alexandru Suvorov, Vadim Bolohan.
Netherlands: Maarten Stekelenburg, Gregory van der Wiel, John Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen, Erik Pieters, Mark van Bommel, Dirk Kuyt, Rafael van der Vaart, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Wesley Sneijder, Ibrahim Afellay (Urby Emanuelson, 90).
