Fielding a largely unchanged side from last season, FC Utrecht manager Ron Jans handed Feyenoord loanee Gjivai Zechiel his full debut in the away game at Sheriff Tiraspol, which was played in the West Moldovan city of Nisporeni due to Tiraspol being classed as "too dangerous to travel to" by the Dutch government.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Tiraspol, whose Moldovan Super Liga season is already five rounds old, started Mauritanian winger Papa Yade ahead of Alesio Mija, who had been given the nod over Yade in last weekend's 0-0 draw away at Petrocub.
After eliminating Prishtina from Kosovo in the previous round, Sheriff Tiraspol got off to a flying start in Nisporeni when Papa Yade got the first big chance of the game before Peter Ademo broke the deadlock after 24 minutes, profiting from a perfectly executed long throw-in.
FC Utrecht, who qualified for the second round of the Europa League qualifying phase by finishing fourth in the Dutch Eredivisie, replied less than ten minutes later via Victor Jensen, who volleyed a corner from Souffian El Karouani home and put his side back alongside Sheriff.
Sheriff had the upper hand in the first half, but gave themselves a mountain to climb after the break when FC Utrecht captain Nick Viergever volleyed the ball into the top corner from another El Karouani corner, putting Utrecht up one in the 54th minute.
Papa Yade earned himself another chance in the 68th minute, but could not fire Sheriff to a 2-2 draw after missing for an open goal. Instead, Yade saw Englishman Adrian Blake put Utrecht up 3-1 after a solo effort ended up in the far corner of Ivan Dyulgerov's goal.
A special night became even more special for 2008-born Jaygo van Ommeren, who replaced midfielder Alonzo Engwanda in the 80th minute for his official debut for FC Utrecht. Previously, Van Ommeren had played just eight minutes for Jong FC Utrecht in the Dutch second division.
The 20-time Moldovan champions offered nothing in return in the final 20 minutes and will need to close the two-goal gap in Utrecht if they want to keep their European campaign alive. The return will be played on Thursday, July 31st, in FC Utrecht's Stadion Galgenwaard.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mike van der Hoorn (FC Utrecht)
View all the match statistics on Flashscore.
