Kazakhstan vs Moldova 1-2

Moldova left Astana Arena with a 2-1 win after taking a two-goal lead and holding off Kazakhstan’s reply. Nicky Clescenco put them in front in first-half stoppage time, Petru Popescu doubled it early in the second half, and Kazakhstan only halved the deficit through Nuraly Alip.

The visitors struck first in the 45th minute, when Nicky Clescenco made it 1-0 in the first minute of stoppage time. Kazakhstan then made two changes on 45 minutes, with Ramazan Orazov replaced by Erkin Tapalov and Elkhan Astanov by Azamat Tuyakbaev, while Moldova also changed personnel at the break as Vladimir Fratea made way for Nikita Motpan. Petru Popescu then scored in the 50th minute, from Sergiu Perciun’s assist, to make it 2-0.

Kazakhstan responded in the 64th minute, when Nuraly Alip, set up by Bauyrzhan Islamkhan, made it 2-1. That gave the home side time to push, and they made further changes on 59, 66 and 74 minutes, while Moldova also switched on 59, 75 and twice on 86 minutes, including the exit of goalscorer Nicky Clescenco. The visitors kept the lead through the closing stages and saw out the final minutes after Kazakhstan’s late bookings.

The numbers reflected Kazakhstan’s control of the ball, with 66% possession and 585 passes to Moldova’s 318. They also had more shots, 18 to 16, and more corners, 11 to 4, but Moldova were far more accurate with 8 shots on target to Kazakhstan’s 3. Kazakhstan’s goalkeeper made 6 saves, while Moldova’s made 2, and both sides were level on 10 fouls.

Kazakhstan were booked twice, with Galymzhan Kenzhebek shown a yellow card in the 80th minute and Yan Vorogovskiy in the 89th. Moldova finished without a booking, and there were no red cards.