Five-star Serbia sink ten-man Moldova

Serbia sealed their first win of elite round Group 6 as Nenad Lukić's double and further second-half strikes by Goran Čosić and Nikola Trujić confirmed an emphatic win against a Moldova side that crumbled following the 49th-minute dismissal of Eugen Zasaviţchi.

Despite Ion Prodan's 13th-minute own goal the match was evenly balanced in the first half, and the visitors would have been level had Vadim Raţa not shot straight at Nikola Perić on 57 minutes. By then, however, Moldova were down to ten men, Zasavitchi having received his marching orders for a dangerous challenge.

Serbia almost doubled their lead soon afterwards, when Danilo Kuzmanović forced a spectacular save from Veaceslav Voloşin, but, following the Raţa let-off, the floodgates opened. Within four minutes, Čaušić powered Lukić's cross past Voloşin before Lukić scored from (74, 90) assists by Luka Milunović and Trujić, who had himself found the net three minutes earlier.

"We played well today," said Serbia coach Dejan Govedarica. "I changed some players from the first game [a 3-2 loss to Wales] because I wanted players full of energy. Our destiny does not just depend on ourselves but on the results of the other games."