Moldova took full advantage of Finland captain Sami Hyypia's first-half dismissal to claim a 2-0 win in their Group E curtain-raiser in qualifying for UEFA EURO 2012.

The Bayer Leverkusen defender was sent off after 36 minutes in Chisinau, and the hosts duly made their opponents pay for their numerical disadvantage in the second half. Substitute Alexandru Suvorov struck the opener after 69 minutes, before Anatolie Doros added a second shortly afterwards to complete the victory.

Finland were looking for a victory to begin their campaign, aware they would need to be at their best ahead of Tuesday's match with the Netherlands. After Moldova's Frunza headed wide and Doros shot over, Niklas Moisander fired over from 25 yards for the visitors

Finland's hopes were soon hampered, however, when Frunza charged in on goal 25 yards out, only to be pulled down by Hyypia. The former Liverpool centre-back was shown a straight red card for stopping a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Moldova could not make their advantage tell in the final stages of the first half, but eventually found the breakthrough 21 minutes from time. Suvorov, who entered the fray earlier in the second half, curled a 25-yard free-kick up and over the Finland wall and beat Otto Fredrikson to find the net.

Doros added a second 16 minutes from time, shooting from 25 yards out as Fredrikson failed to prevent the ball from going in.

Moldova will travel to Hungary for their second qualifier on Tuesday.