Nations League: Moldova vs Kazakhstan Player Ratings as hosts edge past Kazakhs in the first leg

Moldova vs Kazakhstan: The Nations League matched up two of It’s minnow nations in a fiesty encounter in League C and D’s qualification layouts. Hosts Moldova squared up against Andrei Karpovich’s Kazakhstan tonight. In what was a captivating first half, both teams took hits at each other before Moldova’s 15 minute spell of intensity brought them the opener. Beyond the half way stage, the game felt discontinuous and Kazakhstan were running out of time.

Eventually, a Sergei Maliy header and a Moldovan own goal gifted them the win and quite deservedly so. After a poor first half, they played steadily and won the second period which left Moldova staring at a tenth consecutive defeat. Following are the player ratings at full time:

Moldova vs Kazakhstan

Moldova:

Stanislav Namasco (5/10): Namasco had little to do all game, but ended up making a mess of a 64th minute cross that lead to Kazakhstan’s goal. He wouldn’t want to watch that back on a replay.

Veaceslav Posmac (7/10): The former Sheriff Tiraspol defender was an aggressive presence in the heart of the Moldovan defence. His tackles were often clumsy and uncalled for. From set pieces, he was a threat too. In the end however, his own goal cost his side.

Vadim Bolohan (6.2/10): Rather quiet game for the veteran centre back. He sat in his half, sometimes as Moldova’s last defender, started moves with neat passes and accurate long balls.

Daniel Dumbravanu (6.5/10): Kept Zavnutidov and Shchetkin relatively quiet throughout the entirety of the game, the young defender was brought into the side today and struggled quite a bit positionally in the second period.

Artur Ioniţâ (7/10): The captain was everywhere in that first half. Out wide, pressing high up to break down moves, deep in his half to start some for his own team. Had an active game till their Kazakh counterparts reshuffled in the middle of the park.

Ioan-Calin Revenco (7.5/10): The young wing back wasn’t one for conventionalism. Often times you’d find him playing as a third forward really. Down the right, he ran into space, frequently got into central areas to pose goalscoring threat. This is a player who likes to get involved in any way he can and he did well today. After his head injury early on, he
enjoyed a solid game of football.

Vadim Raţă (7/10): Much of his team’s play went through his feet. Rata is a natural ball winning presence in Central midfield but he was much more than that tonight. He often found himself with long forward passes to play and did well to accurately pick his wingers out.

Mihaim Platica (6/10): Platica made way for the final 15 minutes of tonight’s contest, but had a very average game prior to that. As Sergei Clescenco’s primary playmaking presence, he was rather quiet. Early in the game he was teed up on two separate occasions, which he poorly dispatched.

Oleg Reabciuk (7.3/10): Like Revenco, he found himself playing more like a third forward than a fifth defender. He held play, missed a clear cut chance early on, and worked very hard to recover possession. Involved, yes. But not as efficient as Revenco was on the other side.

Mihail Caimacov (6.5/10): Caimacov was on set-piece duty and supported his strike partner well during the first 45 and periods of the second half. Not many chances fell his way though, in a game where Nicolaescu stole the show.

Ion Nicolaescu (7.8/10): He will feel hard done with that defeat. With the first half he had, he simply kept growing in confidence was the game went on. As the chances fell his way, you could sense one of them rifling into the back of the net and it did. Hold up play, movement, strength, awareness — this was elite centre forward play on show.

Substitutes:

Radu Gînzari (6/10): Came on for the final 15 minutes as part of Clescenco’s final rebuke in an attempt to clinch the winner. With him on the pitch though, Moldova’s rivals were able to clinch a winner themselves. A substitution that did not go as planned.

Kazakhstan:

Igor Shatskíy (8.3/10): Kazakhstan’s man in goal was saving shots left, right and centre, tipping balls over and around the bar during the first half of this game. Almost as if he was in a personal duel with Moldova’s Ion Nicolaescu, who finally managed to put the ball into Shatskíy’s net on the brink of half-time.

Morat Bystrov (7/10): The full back was part of a resurgent back five in coach Karpovich’s plans but shifted to being a more aggressive wing back as Kazakhstan’s search for an equaliser went on. Very decent match.

Sergei Mally (7/10): Found the breakthrough his country so desperately needed and was rock solid at the back. He struggled in keeping pace with the host’s flurry of attacks down his flank in the first period but quickly moved closer to his fellow defenders as the game went on. The goal he scored came from a brave header.

Aleksandr Marochkin (8/10): Sat at the centre of a five man block, kept things tight and Marshalled the back line. Simply put, Marochkin was the least erratic of Kazakhstan’s three central defenders on the night. His contributions at the back will have not gone unnoticed in their triumph. His goal line clearance in the 38th minute was a game-defining moment.

Nuraly Alip (6.5/10): On the left side of defence, he often had to deal with an oncoming Revenco and this meant he was pulled way out of position with Moldova’s overlapping runs. He didn’t get very far ahead as the game went on, but did solidify the left flank.

Gafurzhan Suyumbaev (7/10): Like all other wing-backs on the pitch tonight, Suyumbaev was least involved with his team’s defensive proceedings as Alip often covered up for him. He had a penalty appeal denied too. Well earned 7.

Akshat Tagybergen (6.5/10): The Captain was unusually incompetent in the first half. Kazakhstan’s tempo runs through his passing, which often incite quick passages of play up the field. He had his moments in the match but was substituted with six minutes to spare.

Vladislav Vasiljiev (6.8/10): Vasiljiev was one of those that fell out of rhythm during Moldova’s period of dominance. As he let his guard down, the Kazakh midfield instantly became a lot more sloppy in possession. Tired and battered, he was duly replaced in the 63rd minute of the game.

Duman Narzildaev (6.7/10): Narzildaev too, like Vasiljiev was bang average. Got a couple of disciplinary cautions in the space of a few minutes in the first half but the booking never came. He was at the heart of most good things Kazakhstan did in the first period but went off at half time.

Baktiyar Zavnutidov (6.4/10): The CSKA Moscow striker was deployed as the less direct of the two center-forwards Kazakhstan fielded. He set up a few chances and often found himself either with his back to goal or on the edge of the area.

Aleksey Shchetkin (6.2/10): Shchetkin was uninvolved, and felt disconnected from the rest of the Kazakhstan side. Their defensive shape didn’t seem organised or coordinated with him leading the line.

Substitutes:

Aibol Abiken (5.3/10): Misplaced a pass with his first touch of the game, and missed a crucial chance to grab the equalizer sometime later.

Aybar Zhaksylykov (5/10): Just 13 touches to amount for his 27 minutes on the field, Zhaksylykov wasn’t the most impactful change.

Roman Murtazaev (5/10): Like all of Kazakhstan’s other substitutes, this wasn’t a change that made a remarkable difference to the pacing of the game. Murtazaev came on for a tired Shchetkin in the 64th minute.

Abzal Beysebekov (N/A)

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