Both teams had got off to a bad start to their qualification campaign, with Estonia losing 2–1 to Israel in a match played in Hungary, while Moldova lost 5–0 to Norway on the same day.

The teams had met five times before, all of them friendlies, with Estonia coming out on top in the head-to-head with three wins.

At the same time, manager Jürgen Henn's lineup has been hit by injury; first-choice goalkeeper Karl Jakob Hein (Real Valladolid) was out thanks to a shoulder injury, while regular team captain Karol Mets (St. Pauli) is also injured, leaving midfielder Mattias Käit (Rapid Bucharest) to don the captain's armband.

Estonia were also missing defender Tanel Tammik and midfielder Markus Soomets.

The game kicked off at 7 p.m. Estonian time at the Zimbru Stadium in Chisinau, and took an unexpectedly positive turn for Estonia early on. In the fifth minute, striker Vlasi Sinjavski (FC Slovácko) broke dangerously through with the ball, only to be brought down by Maxim Cojocaru.

Belgian referee Lawrence Visser had no hesitation in showing the Moldovan defender a red card, leaving the hosts with 10 men for almost the entire game.

Moldova still maintained a high pace, however, and threatened from the left wing with various dangerous situations, yet in the 19th minute it was Estonia who took the lead: Moldovan 'keeper Andrei Cojuhari was able to parry left-back Michael Schjönning-Larsen's (FCI Levadia) skittering long-range ground shot, but it went right into the path of Schjönning-Larsen's unmarked Levadia teammate, midfielder Rasmus Peetson, who comfortably scored the second goal of his international career, with no offside flag shown.

Half an hour into the match, midfielder Kevor Palumets (FK Železiarne Podbrezova) delivered a corner from the right, and striker Rauno Sappinen (FC Flora) was on the end of it to head the ball. Cojuhari took a hold of the ball but was adjudged by the VAR to have been behind the goal line, giving Estonia its second goal of the night and heading into the break.

Just three minutes into the second half, however, Palumets was involved again, this time getting a second yellow card for bringing down a Moldovan player, following a fairly harsh judgment from the referee.

This left both teams down to 10 players for the rest of the game; the home team took control of the events going forward, although Sappinen failed to convert a one-on-one chance after nearly an hour of play.

Then in the 67th minute, Moldovan striker Ion Nicolaescu outgunned Paide defender Joseph Saliste in the Estonian penalty area and cut Moldova's deficit to one.

The visitors were able to prove the old adage of seldom being more vulnerable than just after you've scored, however, as captain Käit struck a low shot from 20 yards out that found the inside of the right post.

The home side had one more response in stoppage time thanks to a free kick, but this didn't find the net, leaving Estonia's record 1-1 after two qualification games, and second in Group I.

Possession was fairly evenly matched – 47 percent for Moldova and 53 percent for Estonia, while shots on target (seven and six) were also quite close. The hosts had more overall attempts, however (15 against 11).

Fouls committed were 14 apiece, while Moldova got five corners to Estonia's three.

The goals can be watched again by clicking on the video player below.

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