Greece moved closer to the qualification spot from its group with a shaky 2-1 victory over bottom-placed Moldova in their Euro 2008 qualifier match on June 6.

Greece started the game on a positive note and should have taken an early lead when Theofanis Gekas drove in a close range shot in the 8th minute, only for Alexandru Epureanu.to clear the ball off the line. Moldova's first chance fell to Serghei Alexeev, when his long range shot very nearly beat Antonis Nikopolidis.

But the Olympiacos keeper was alert and scrambled to his right and parried the ball away. Nikopolidis once again came to Greece's rescue in the 27th minute, when he blocked Igor Bugaev's attempt in a one-on-one situation.

Greece finally took the lead in the 30th minute when Angelos Charisteas rose high to glance a Christos Patsatzoglou's cross from the right wing past Nicolae Calancea. Greece had another chance just minutes before half time when Charisteas swung in a cross from the right side but Gekas' effort just shaved the far post.

The Greek team was happy to sit on the lead and play out time in the second half, which significantly slowed down the game's tempo. However the home side received a jolt just 10 minutes before the final whistle when substitute Viorel Frunza latched on to Nicolae Josan's through ball  and smashed the ball past Nikopolidis.

Coach Otto Rehhagel immediately ringed changes, bringing on Stelios Giannakopoulos for Patsatzoglou as the defending champions laid siege on the Moldova goal. Just when it looked that Moldova had earned an unexpected point, Greece retained the lead in the final minute of injury time.

Liberopoulos, who had replaced Gekas in the 63rd minute, was the first to react to Sotiris Kyrgiakos' flick-on and slotted home the ball much to the delight of the fans at the Pankritio stadium.