And it could’ve got even better for the visitors five minutes later, but Rico Lewis produced a crucial interception to stop Antonciuc’s pass finding an unmarked blue shirt through on goal.
After that warning sign, England upped the ante and restored their lead through Gray just after the hour mark, as the 20 year old Spurs star crashed the ball in off the underside of the crossbar after being teed up by Lewis following more excellent work by Dibling in the build-up.
Nwaneri almost grabbed his second of the evening when he found himself through on goal, but Nazarciuc was on hand to produce a crucial save.
But the forward wasn’t to be denied a double, as he found the net with a composed finish, after an excellent Lewis-Skelly assist, in the 73rd minute to give England a two-goal advantage.
Esse then came off the bench to net England’s fourth with a well-timed header – having seen his earlier effort chalked off for offside – to round off the scoring.
England’s next qualifier sees them take on Kazakhstan on 25 September.
England: 22 Tommy Setford (Arsenal), 8 Rico Lewis (Manchester City), 4 Josh Acheampong (Chelsea), 5 Ashley Phillips (Stoke City, loan from Tottenham Hotspur), 3 Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), 14 Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur), 7 Jobe Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund) (c), 10 Ethan Nwaneri (Marseille, loan from Arsenal), 20 Tyler Dibling (Everton), 17 Samuel Amo-Ameyaw (Strasbourg), 9 Divin Mubama (Stoke City, loan from Manchester City)
Substitutes: 11 Tyrique George (Everton) for Mubama 58’, 21 Romain Esse (Coventry City, loan from Crystal Palace) for Amo-Ameyaw 58’, 23 Sydie Peck (Sheffield United) for Nwaneri 74’, 18 Joshua King (Fulham) for Dibling 74, 19 Kellen Fisher (Norwich City) for Gray 78’,
Substitutes not used: 13 Tommy Simkin (Stoke City), 16 Thierry Small (Preston North End), 6 Max Alleyne (Manchester City), 15 Ben Nelson (Leicester City)
Goals: Nwaneri 11, 73, Gray 61, Esse 82
Head coach: Lee Carsley
Moldova: 1 Artur Nazarciuc, 3 Ivan Graminschii, 13 Leonard Saca, 5 Artiom Dijinari ©, 4 Matteo Obleac, 16 David Sirbu, 10 Mihai Lupan, 17 Ovidiu David, 8 Vasile Luchita, 11 Dan-Angelo Botan, 9 Nicolae Telic
Substitutes: 14 Cristian Antonciuc for Telic 46’, 19, Victor Ciumasu for Luchita 66’, 20 Nichita Caragheorghi for Botan 78’, 18 Vlad Colis for Graminschii 78’, 15 Vladislav Boico for David 86’,
Substitutes not used: 12 Roman Dumenco, 7 Lucian Radu, 6 Vladislav Costin, 2 Nichita Lipcan,
Goal: Luchita 48
Head coach: Serghei Cebotari