DOHA: Sebastian Soria on Tuesday scored early in the first half as hosts Qatar battled to a gritty 1-1 draw against Moldova at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. Veteran striker Soria defeated Modlova goalkeeper Alexei Koşelev with a slick shot from outside the penalty box as home fans celebrated the team's first and only goal in the 3rd minute. After a tense battle, Moldova produced the equaliser in the 24th minute when Andrei Cojocari levelled the score with a spectacular volley from the corner of the Qatar box. Moments earlier Cojocari had narrowly missed Qatar crossbar following a powerful shot from 20 meters. The teams shared the spoils in a game that was played more in the midfield than in the opposite corners of the pitch at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. During the break, both coaches - Igor Doborovolskiy of Moldovoa and Jorge Fossati of Qatar - made two changes to their playing XI as the two sides looked at giving match practice to their players. Seven minutes into the second half, Mairton of Moldova fired a missile from close range but his shot missed the target with Qatar goalkeeper Saad Abdullah Al Sheeb well beaten. In what was the first meeting between the two sides, Qatar - ranked 85 in the world - walked with the kind of match practice they were seeking ahead of two 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches to be played at the end of March.