Results elsewhere helped the Republic of Ireland move to joint top of the Group D table after all six teams have played three games.
Before Ireland's game in Chisinau, Wales drew 1-1 with Georgia in Cardiff. The draw meant that Wales took only two points from the October back-to-back fixtures.
Wales took the lead inside ten minutes in the Cardiff City Stadium through Gareth Bale. The Real Madrid star is now only three goals behind Ian Rush, who is the all-time leading goalscorer for the Welsh.
Despite holding a 1-0 lead at half-time, Wales conceded just before the hour mark as Tornike Okriashvili equalised, and the home team were unable to get the winner.
In the four matches between the two teams, Wales have yet to win a match, having lost three, and drawn once.
In Belgrade, Serbia moved to the top of the table with a 3-2 win over Austria. The home team never trailed in the game, but had to take the lead on three separate occasions.
They led 2-1 at half-time with a brace from Aleksandar Mitrovic either side of a goal from Marcel Sabitzer. After Austria equalised for a second time through Marc Janko, Southampton's Dusan Tadic scored the winner just over 15 minutes remaining in the game.
All six teams return to action on November 12th, with the top four teams facing off against each other. Serbia welcome Wales to Belgrade. Ireland travel to Vienna to play Austria, while Georgia play Moldova in Tbilisi.
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