Foto - Sergei Sokolov, Moldova FA

Artur Ionita scored the only goal in Tiraspol as Moldova began their 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification bid with a narrow victory over Latvia in Group 1.

Latvian chances
The visitors enjoyed the better opportunities in the first half, despite seeing significantly less of the ball, but their failure to convert those chances came back to haunt them a minute before the hour mark. Latvian goalkeeper Jevgenijs Sazonovs failed to deal with substitute Radu Catan's cross and Ionita was able to bury the ball into an empty net, installing his team in second place behind early section leaders Romania.

Chirinciuc save
The outcome could have been very different had the hosts' No1 Anatol Chirinciuc reacted a little slower to a shot from Latvian captain Edgars Gauracs in the opening period, which seemed to be dipping under the crossbar until Chirinciuc intervened. Shortly afterwards, Aleksandrs Gramovics drove wide from a promising position, a miss Genadijs Sitiks's men would come to regret when Ionita opened the scoring.

Sazonovs injury
To compound Latvia's misery, Sazonovs suffered an injury during the goal and required transport to hospital, where his team-mate Vadims Žulevs had also needed to be taken earlier. Moldova coach Serghei Chirilov greeted victory by stating that his team are now realistic contenders to finish in the top two, which could earn them a play-off berth on the road to the finals in Denmark.

Match protocol: MOLDOVA U21 - LATVIA U21 1:0 (0:0)

Article from uefa.com

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