Moldova wore down 10-man Finland to secure a 2-0 win with two second-half goals Friday in their opening qualifier for the 2012 European Championship.
Finland opened the match on the attack but were reduced to 10 men after Sami Hyypia was sent off in the 36th minute for grabbing the legs of Viorel Frunza.
Moldova finally took advantage when Alexandru Suvorov opened the scoring in the 69th minute from a 20-meter free kick, sending the ball over the wall and into the top left corner of the net. Anatolie Doros then doubled the lead in the 74th with a hard shot into the left side of the goal.
Finland's best chance came in injury time when Mika Vayrinen got through the Moldovan defense but couldn't convert his shot from six meters (yards).
Lineups:
Moldova: Stanislav Namasco, Vitalie Bordian, Alexei Savinov, Simon Bulgaru, Vadim Boret, Eugeniu Cebotaru, Alexandru Epureanu, Nicolae Josan (Alexandru Suvorov, 58), Igor Tigirlas (Igor Bugaiov, 68), Anatolie Doros (Valeriu Andronic, 75), Viorel Frunza.
Finland: Otto Fredrikson, Petri Pasanen, Niklas Moisander, Sami Hyypia, Roman Eremenko, Jari Litmanen ( Kasper Hamalainen, 46), Tim Sparv, Jonatan Johansson, Alexei Eremenko jr. (Mikael Forssell, 81), Markus Heikkinen, Roni Porokara (Mika Vayrinen, 75).
