It was not a performance that screamed 'world domination', nor was it a result to grab the attentions of their rivals in Europe.
Those who were watching England's Under 21s on Thursday night to see if the bold rhetoric of FA chairman Greg Dyke had substance may even have felt disappointed with a victory secured by a debut goal from West Bromwich striker Saido Berahino.
For Gareth Southgate, however, there were no complaints.
Bullet: England's Saido Berahino scores the opening goal
Match facts
ENGLAND U21 (4-2-3-1): Butland; Stones, Wisdom, Keane, Shaw; Chalobah, Ward-Prowse (Hughes 66min); Zaha, Carroll, Redmond; Berahino Todd (Kane 53). Subs not used: Long, Robinson, Dier, Ameobi.
Goal: Berahino 13.
Referee: Nikola Dabanovic (Montenegro).
Att: 5,286
England, as expected, began their quest to reach Euro 2015 with three points in Southgate's first match since succeeding Stuart Pearce as Under 21s head coach and, on another evening, they would have been pocketed with a raft of goals.
He is wise enough to know, though, that improvement must be forth- coming — starting against Finland on Monday night in Tampere — if England are to maintain their impressive sequence of having reached every Under 21 European Championship since 2007.
'There is a rich group of talented players coming through but talent alone won't be enough,' said Southgate.
'It's a new start with new players and there was an expectation we would win comfortably. We did a lot of things very well.'
Looking up: Wonderkid Berahino celebrates his strike
Proud: New England U21 manager Gareth Southgate
England dominated from the start but it would have been disappointing had anything else been true. Qualifying for tournaments was never a problem under Pearce, as his record of 22 wins and five draws from 29 matches proved. The issues arose when the stakes were at their highest.
Even so, Southgate was anxious to get off on the best possible foot and, having selected a side that contained five players who went to Israel in June, there was never any doubt that he would mark his debut with a victory.
From the moment captain Andre Wisdom had a thumping header beaten away by Moldova goalkeeper Alexei Koshelev in the 10th minute, England had set the tone and it was not long before they poked their noses in front.
What's up: Wilfried Zaha can't believe he missed
England's Wilfried Zaha looks dejected after a missed chance at goal After marking his full debut for West Bromwich with a hat-trick in the Capital One Cup against Newport, Berahino, an impressive young man from Burundi, ensured his first appearance at this level was also memorable.
Running on to a slick through-ball from Tom Carroll, Berahino showed speed to get beyond Moldova's defence before he rifled an unerring shot past Koshelev from 10 yards.
To Southgate's disbelief, that was the only goal England managed. Luke Shaw had a volley that was beaten away, Koshelev denied Carroll with a fine stop, Wisdom went close with another header and Berahino drove into the side- netting. It was one-way traffic. A similar pattern emerged after the break. England had all the possession and kept Moldova hemmed in their half but there was no end product as the absence of players like Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley, both with the senior team, was keenly felt.
The biggest misses came from Berahino, who missed from three yards, and second-half substitute Will Hughes, whose shot from four yards was headed off the line.
'We just need to be a bit more ruthless as sometimes you fear there will be a punch on the nose,' observed Southgate, who had a full debrief with England manager Roy Hodgson after the game. 'But overall we are happy. We can look forward to Finland now.'
