England Football Online
Results 2010-2015                        Page Last Updated 8 September 2013

Moldova

 
911 vs. Moldova
 

previous match (23 days)
921 vs. Scotland
 
922
 
next match (4 days)
923 vs. Ukraine

FINAL MEETING vs. MOLDOVA
Friday, 6 September 2013
2014 FIFA World Cup UEFA Group H qualification match


England 4 Moldova 0 [3-0]
 

The National Stadium, Wembley, Brent, Greater London
Kick-off (BST): 8.00pm
Attendance: 61,607

93½ minutes 46:32 & 47:01 Moldova kicked-off
[1-0] Steven Gerrard 12 11:28
 
right-footed strike from 25 yards low into the near post from a Frank Lampard layoff
[1-0] Theo Walcott scores: disallowed offside
17
[2-0] Rickie Lambert header 26 25:54
 
low header from 3 yards to keeper's right after Walcott's shot was parried
[3-0] Danny Welbeck 45+1 45:58
 
picked up a long ball from Rickie Lambert, took it past the keeper and tapped in from 6 yards
 
[4-0] Danny Welbeck 50 49:57
 
right-footed 6 yd shot over the keeper after running onto a Rickie Lambert thro ball
 
Danny Welbeck 45 44:40  
Commentator: Clive Tyldesley with Andy Townsend
 

Match Summary

 

Officials from Slovakia

England Squad

Type

Moldova Squad
Referee (light blue) - Ivan Kruzliak
29 (24 March 1984), Bratislava, FIFA listed 2011.

Assistant Referees - Martin Balko, 41 (8 March 1972) & Tomas Mokos, 39 (30 May 1974).
Fourth official -
Richard Trutz, 42 (2 August 1971), Bratislava.

Referee Observer - Hans Reijgwart
UEFA Delegate - Rudolf Zavrl
, Slovenia

23 Goal Attempts 2
13 Attempts on Target 0
0 Hit Bar/Post 0
9 Corner Kicks Won 1
2 Offside Calls Against 0
12 Fouls Conceded 11
65% Possession 35%

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (8 August 2013) 14th
EFO ranking
Group 1 (2nd)

ELO rating 6th
Colours: The Nike 2013 home uniform - White crew neck jerseys with navy blue collar, blue shorts, white socks with thin blue tops.
Capt: Steven Gerrard
(29th (38) captaincy (4))
Manager: Roy Hodgson, 66 (9 August 1947), appointed 1 May 2012,
19th match, W 11 - D 7 - L 1 - F 44 - A 17.
team selected on Thursday, 5 September 2013
England Lineup
1 Hart, C. Joseph J. 26
140 days
19 April 1987 G Manchester City FC 34 27ᵍᵃ
2 Walker, Kyle A. 23
101 days
28 May 1990 RB Tottenham Hotspur FC 7 0
3 Cole, Ashley, off 46th min. 32
260 days
20 December 1980 LB Chelsea FC 104 0
4 Gerrard, Steven G. 33
99 days
30 May 1980 CM Liverpool FC 104 20
the 21st player to score twenty England goals
5 Cahill, Gary J. 27
261 days
19 December 1985 CD Chelsea FC 17 2
6 Jagielka, Philip N. 31
20 days
17 August 1982 CD Everton FC 20 1
the 161st player to reach the 20-app milestone
7 Walcott, Theo J. 24
174 days
16 March 1989 RF Arsenal FC 35 5
8 Lampard, Frank J. 35
78 days
20 June 1978 RM Chelsea FC 99 28
9
Welbeck, Daniel N.T.M. 22
284 days
26 November 1990 LF Manchester United FC 18 8
Welbeck cautioned in the 45th minute for dissent. He took a shot anyway after the referee had halted play for offside. Suspended.
10 Wilshere, Jack A.G., off 60th min 21
248 days
1 January 1992 LM Arsenal FC 9 0
11 Lambert, Rickie L., off 71st min 31
202 days
16 February 1982 CF Southampton FC 2 2
England Substitutes
scoreline: England 3 Moldova 0
14 Baines, Leighton J., on 46th min for Cole 28
269 days
11 December 1984 LB Everton FC 19 14 1
5
scoreline: England 4 Moldova 0
1196 18 Barkley, Ross, on 60th min. (59:03) for Wilshire 19
275 days
5 December 1993 LM Everton FC 1 0
the 65th Everton player to represent England
17
Milner, James P., on 71st min (70:11) for Lambert 27
245 days
4 January 1986
CM
Manchester City FC 40 24 1
16
the 76th player to reach this milestone
result: England 4 Moldova 0
unused substitutes: 12-Chris Smalling, 13-John Ruddy, 15-Michael Carrick, 16-Tom Cleverley, 19-Jermain Defoe, 20-Ashley Young, 21-Raheem Sterling, 22-Andros Townsend, 23-Fraser Forster.

records:

England have now won ten matches in the sixteen qualification matches unbeaten.
Steven Gerrard has played in 26 of England's 35 home matches at the National Stadium.
Joe Hart has now made thirteen consecutive National Stadium appearances since March 2011, equalling the record set by Steven Gerrard between September 2007 and September 2009.
 
4-3-3 Hart -
Walker, Cahill, Jagielka, Cole
(Baines) -
Lampard, Gerrard, Wilshere
(Barkley) -
Walcott, Lambert
(Milner), Welbeck.
Averages (Starting XI): Age 27 years 316 days Appearances/Goals 40.8 5.6

 

Moldova Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (8 August 2013) 123rd
EFO ranking n/a
ELO rating 118th
Colours: Made by Jako - Red collared jerseys with blue/red trimmed collar and blue cuffs/hem, red shorts, red socks.
Capt: Alexandru Epureanu Manager: Ion Stepanovićh Caras, 62, (11 September 1950), appointed Head Coach on 9 January 2012, (also manager 1990-97).
15th match, W 2 - D 5 - L 8 - F 8 - A 26.
Moldova Lineup
1 Namașco, Stanislav 26
300 days
10 November 1986 G NK Domzale, Slovenia 37 52ᵍᵃ
9 Antoniuc, Alexandru 24
106 days
23 May 1989 RB FC Veris Chisinau 5 0
6 Epureanu, Alexandru 26
344 days
27 September 1986 CD FC Dynamo Moskva, Russia 57 4
2 Armaș, Igor 26
54 days
14 July 1987 CD FC Kuban Krasnodar, Russia 30 1
3 Golovatenco, Victor 29
131 days
28 April 1984 LB FC Sibir Novosibirsk, Russia 52 3
13 Bulgaru, Simion, off 58th min. 28
103 days
26 May 1985 RDM FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 24 1
11 Gheorghiev, Serghei, off 85th min. 21
321 days
20 October 1991 LDM
/AM
FC Tiraspol 7 0
14 Bordian, Vitalie 29
26 days
11 August 1984 RM FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 31 1
7 Ioniță, Artur, injured off 19th min. 23
20 days
17 August 1990 AM FC Aarau, Switzerland 7 0
10 Dedov, Alexandru 26
42 days
26 July 1987 LM FC Academia Chisinau 11 1
20 Sidorenco, Eugen 24
171 days
19 March 1989 CF FC Tom Tomsk, Russia 12 3
Moldova Substitutes
scoreline: England 1 Moldova 0
4 Onica, Alexandru, on 19th min (18:28) for Ionita 29
39 days
29 July 1984 LDM Lokomotiv Tashkent FK, Uzbekistan 18 0
scoreline: England 4 Moldova 0
16 Suvorov, Alexandru, on 59th min. (57:01) for Bulgaru 26
216 days
2 February 1987 RM FC Mordovia Saransk, Russia 46 5
19 Pașcenco, Alexandru, on 85th min. (84:06) for Gheorghiev 24
101 days
28 May 1989 LM FC Sheriff 8 0
result: England 4 Moldova 0
unused substitutes: 5-Petru Racu, 8-Eugeniu Cebotaru, 12-Serghei Pașcenco, 15-Anatolie Doroș, 17-Anatolie Boeştean, 18-Iulian Erhan, 21-Alexandru Grosu, 22-Gicu Andronic
team notes: Serghei and Alexandru Pașcenco are brothers, both born in Tiraspol.
 
4-2-3-1 Namașco -
Antoniuc, Epureanu, Armaș, Golovatenco -
Bulgaru
(Suvorov)(Suvorov), Georghiev (Pașcenco) -
Bordian, Ioniță (Onica), Dedov -
Sidorencoo
notes: after Ioniță's injury, Georghiev went behind Sidorenco.
AveragesAverages (Starting XI): Age 26 years 116 days Appearances/Goals 24.8 1.3

 

    Match Report by Mike Payne

The next month in the future of the England football team will decide if they can qualify for the forthcoming World Cup in Brazil in 2014, and they started with the easiest of four ties by entertaining Moldova at Wembley.  England were on a hiding to nothing in this game but in the end they did the job expected of them effectively and efficiently.

A difficult week for manager Roy Hodgson had seen a number of injuries rob him of Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge and Glen Johnson, but the side he selected was far too strong for the Moldova side.  Right from the start there was a purpose about England.  Steven Gerrard was back to his forceful best and he was making some typical surging runs from the midfield and eager for possession.  The whole team knew their jobs and gradually settled into dismantling the opposition's defences.  Rickie Lambert shot over from a good position after Ashley Cole's good work down the left. And then Theo Walcott fed the overlapping Kyle Walker, and his cross flew across goal with no-one able to make the vital touch.

There was a good deal of possession for England in the first ten minutes without too much end product, but that all changed after 12 minutes play.  Cole again worked the ball down the left, combining with Danny Welbeck to touch a pass inside to Frank Lampard.  The Chelsea man looked up and laid the perfect pass inside to the onrushing skipper Gerrard, who rifled a superb low, swerving shot into the bottom corner for a fine goal, his 20th in England colours.  A minute later and only a last-ditch tackle prevented Lampard from converting Walker's cross.

It was all England now and Walcott had a goal disallowed after just straying offside, and then Lampard went close with another effort.  Jack Wilshere, showing some neat touches, had a surging run that ended with a good shot that goalkeeper Stanislav Namasco just managed to parry the ball away to safety.  The goalkeeper's penchant for punching the ball was to prove his undoing in England's next attack.  Several times the ball came into the Moldova penalty area, and desperate defending kept the ball away from goal.  But the ball was never cleared properly and suddenly Walcott burst through to fire in a fierce shot which Namasco again tried to punch away.  This time though the ball spun across goal and there was a jubilant Lambert to stoop and nod the loose ball over the line from close range.  Two in two for the Southampton man!  Actually Lambert can be very pleased with his first full international because he was always involved, brought other players in to play and was always in the danger area when it mattered.

On 28 minutes more good approach play ended with Walcott volleying over the bar, and then good play by Cole and Welbeck ended with the latter also firing over.  England were totally in control by now and the visitors had little to offer apart from effort and determination.  Gerrard was looking very sharp and he was covering so much ground, urging his players on and tirelessly taking possession.  The only criticism of the team at this stage was a few careless passes when in good positions, which irritated a little.

After 42 minutes Gerrard saw a free-kick punched away and then a minute later Welbeck was flagged offside as he shot over the bar again.  The referee, incredibly, booked Welbeck, accusing him of wasting time after his whistle blew, but Welbeck can consider himself very unlucky, as he clearly hadn't heard the whistle.  The costly booking will keep Welbeck out of the next game, and Hodgson was rightly furious with the referee's decision!

To Welbeck's credit, his obvious disappointment did not affect his game and right on the half-time whistle he made it 3-0 to England.  Lambert picked the ball up on the right and sent in an inch perfect pass for Welbeck to run onto, beat the keeper and a defender, and guide the ball into the empty net.  It was a well-made, well-finished goal and that made the half-time score look a little more realistic, reflecting England's dominance.

The second half continued in the same vein and early attacks again stretched the Moldova defence.  It took England just five minutes of the half to increase their lead.  It was a good move too, as Gerrard fed the ball through to Lambert and the new man again found Welbeck with a great pass.  As the goalkeeper came out to narrow the angle, Welbeck cleverly clipped the ball over him and into the net.

More good play then set up Leighton Baines, a half-time substitute for Cole, and his shot was somehow kept out by Namasco, although the goalkeeper knew little of how he saved it.  The game settled down again and England were now starting to ease back a little, knowing that there was a very difficult game still to come in four days time, but the chances kept coming, as did the substitutions.  Ross Barkley came on for Wilshere and James Milner replaced Lambert, Barkley was making a debut, a reward for his early season form forerton.  The final pass was missing from the next passage of play although half chances were created.  A brilliant pass from Gerrard found Barkley and the youngster took a good touch before driving his shot just wide of the far post with the keeper beaten. 

After 77 minutes Welbeck forced another save from the overworked Namasco and then two minutes later Lampard's fierce shot bounced to safety off the goalkeeper's foot as he dived.  Another lovely move featuring Walker, Walcott and Gerrard ended with Welbeck glancing a header just wide.  Four minutes from the end it was Walker who hit a screamer just over.  Moldova then had their one and only chance to score a consolation goal, but Igor Armas shot over from close range when he really should have done better.  If that 89th minute effort was a bad miss then Milner's last minute attempt was even worse as he somehow contrived to hit a volley into the ground and over the bar when presented with an open goal from Gerrard's cross.  Milner will never have a better chance to add to his solitary goal for England so far.

All in all though it was job done and England can move on to the tougher games ahead.  The loss of Welbeck will be a big blow in relation to the way he was playing and the current crop of injuries, but the England team can travel to the Ukraine with confidence high after another good performance.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
BBC Sport
SkySports Football
FMF.md
RateTheRef.com

Mike Payne - football historian and contributor
cg