Romania leave Estonia with three points

Romania defeated Estonia in their first 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier courtesy of second-half goals from Gabriel Torje and Ciprian Marica.

Though the visitors dominated after the break, Estonia made things difficult in the first 45 minutes at the Lilleküla Stadium, keeping chances to a minimum. However, Romania could not be shackled after the interval, with Torje turning in a cross on 55 minutes and Marica sealing the Group D points with a quarter of an hour remaining.

On the backfoot for long stretches, it was the hosts who showed early sparkle, veteran Andres Oper displaying fleet of foot to round a defender and shoot just wide from the edge of the area. Romania replied with a vicious Cristian Tănase effort but Sergei Pareiko was there to save.

The game opened up after the interval as the visitors took the fight to their opponents. Marica seemed the likeliest to unpick the home defence, and the FC Schalke 04 man did just that ten minutes into the second half, bursting clear down the left and delivering an ideal cross for Torje. 

Marica continued to star and got his just rewards, playing a neat one-two with Torje before slotting the ball past Pareiko. Tarmo Rüütli's men lacked penetration in attack as they fought back late on, and the coach will be hoping for more cutting edge when they face Turkey on Tuesday, when Romania host Andorra.