Win strengthens Slovenia's hand

Slovenia moved up to second place in UEFA European Under-21 Group 6 after a win against their Moldovan counterparts.

Early lead
The Slovenians took a sixth-minute lead after Miran Burgic took full advantage of an error in the Moldovan defence, but that was the cue for a good spell for the home side. Nicolae Josan looked particularly dangerous as he rattled the post with a 26th-minute shot, and he was to prove even more effective as he accepted a pass from Sergei Alekseev to score his side's equaliser.

Killer touch
However, Moldova's joy was to be short-lived as goalkeeper Mihail Paius was left helpless in the face of a header from Burgic after 42 minutes as Slovenia regained the lead. Maxim Frantuz and Sergiu Japalau both had chances to equalise for Moldova after the break but Slovenia proved they had the killer touch in front of goal as Valter Birsa completed the scoring with 16 minutes remaining.

Second place
Victory has lifted Slovenia to second place in the group with two games remaining, but with both Norway one points behind and Belarus two, they can ill afford any slip-ups in their final matches against group winners Italy and Scotland in October.