BERLIN, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Goals from Ibrahima Konate, Matheus Cunha and Yussuf Poulsen helped Leipzig to ease past Romanian outfit Universitatea Cariova 3-1 at the first leg of Europa League's third qualifying round on Thursday.
The hosts took the reins from the kick off and pressed Universitatea Craiova into the defence. Hence, Jean-Kevin Augustin and Bruma came close from promising positions in the opening period.
Stefan Ilsanker had the opener on his head but he missed the target from close range in the 19th minute before Ibrahima Konate cut a better figure in front of the goal, as he headed home a corner form inside the box to break the deadlock six minutes later.
The visitors lacked in penetration but showed a vital sign after the restart when Alexandru Mitrita tested Leipzig goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo in the 48th minute.
Leipzig controlled the proceedings on the pitch but they had to wait until the 77th minute when Yussuf Poulsen's square pass allowed Matheus Cunha to double the lead.
Poulsen got his name on the scoreboards ten minutes later as well after poking home a rebound following a free kick, making it 3-0 with 87 minutes into the encounter.
Universitatea Craiova scored their consolation out of the blue when Ivan Martic slotted home a cross to the far post in the dying minutes of the game.
"We played well in the first half hour. After that we wanted to force the goals. The second half was ok but the late goal against is of course annoying. Nevertheless, I am confident that we will reach the next round," Leipzig head coach Ralf Rangnick said after the game.
Craiova will need a better result to overturn today's loss on the road. Enditem
