Fresh from their 3-1 win against Serbia, Estonia were brought down to earth by Slovenia who left Tallinn with a 1-0 win courtesy of Andrei Sidorenkov's 67th-minute own goal.
Estonia had high hopes of collecting a third victory in the section following their impressive victory in Belgrade on Friday. Instead it was Slovenia who seized the initiative, building on their 5-1 win against the Faroe Islands four days ago to climb up to second in the group.
Slovenia had the best of the early exchanges and Sergei Pareiko did well to hold on to the ball after a goalmouth scramble following a corner in the eighth minute. At the other end Kaimar Saag's powerful long-range drive was kept out by Samir Handanovič in the Slovenia goal. Estonia captain Konstantin Vassiljev, a goalscorer in Belgrade, had a further chance from a free-kick but Handanovič was again equal to the effort.
Visiting forward Milivoje Novakovič then attempted to lob Pareiko from distance but his shot lacked accuracy. Slovenia upped gears after the break and earned their reward midway through the half when Zlatko Dedič's shot was redirected by Sidorenkov into his own net. Substitutes Sergei Zenjov and Karl Palatu both had good chances as Estonia pressed in the latter stages and Enar Jääger thought he had equalised in added time, but Handanovič saved at full stretch to preserve the points for Slovenia.
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