With the visitors looking for their first point in the group, starting with a back six against the Norwegians certainly wasn’t the best tactic.
It invited the hosts to attack consistently, and within just five minutes, a superbly lofted ball from Martin Odegaard found Erling Haaland, and his pass across goal left Felix Myhre with the simplest of tap-ins.
Any occasional Moldovan forays upfield were quickly snuffed out, and when Haaland slid home number two after 10 minutes – his 44th goal in 45 internationals thanks to Myhre returning the favour – the game was already over as a contest.
Alexander Sorloth was left disappointed not to have scored from five yards out with only the keeper to beat, but Odegaard’s unplayable passing game ensured that Moldova wouldn’t punish him.
A quick break forward on 35 minutes saw the Arsenal man release Haaland, whose crisp, low finish to Cristian Avram’s left brought a deserved third for Norway.
It was swiftly followed by a stunning chip for his third and Norway’s fourth, and there was still time for Odegaard to turn goalscorer, smashing home a fifth just before the referee's whistle for half-time.
With no change to the pattern of the game after the break, it simply became a case of how many the hosts would score.
Nusa’s driving run split the Moldovan defence and the cross from David Moller Wolfe was far too inviting for Haaland, who made no mistake with a header.
A carbon copy on the hour came back off the crossbar, but Moldova’s reprieve from torture was fleeting, as substitute Thelonious Aasgaard rolled home a seventh goal just three minutes after being deployed.
Leo Ostigard won’t look back on the match with much fondness given his own goal a minute after coming on deprived Orjan Nyland of a clean sheet; however, that mistake was quickly forgotten as Aasgaard grabbed an eighth two minutes later and his hat-trick goal from the spot shortly after.
A superb move from a corner saw Haaland drill home the 10th, but Norway still weren’t finished with Aasgaard getting his fourth in injury-time – an incredible return when considering that he didn’t come on until the 63rd minute.
Rather poetically, in the context of tonight’s margin, Moldova can but look back with blank expressions after a 10th WC qualifying loss away from home in succession – and their 30th from their 35 away qualifiers in total.
Meanwhile, Haaland has rocketed from nowhere to sit three goals clear of Andrej Kramaric at the scoring charts’ summit, and the continuation of such blistering form can only help Norway in their quest to enter their first WC finals of the 21st century.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Erling Haaland (Norway)
