BERLIN, July 26 -- Bundesliga outfit Leipzig cruised to a 4-0 victory over BK Haecken in the first leg of UEFA Europa League's second qualifying round on Thursday.
The "Bulls" started with a victory into their season as Ralf Rangnick's men showed no mercy with Swedish club BK Haecken after securing a lucid and vital victory on home soil.
The hosts staged a slow start into the encounter given the fact it was their first competitive clash of the season.
As the match progressed, Leipzig gained the upper hand and pressed the visitors into defence.
Nevertheless, the hosts had to wait until the 35th minute before Bruma opened the scoring from close range after making use of Stefan Ilsanker's through ball.
Leipzig gained momentum and doubled the lead only four minutes later as new arrival Matheus Cunha hammered home with a turn shot from the edge of the box.
After the restart, Leipzig started where they left off and smoothed the way for the victory against hapless visitors from Sweden, as Kevin Kampl made the most out of Jean-Kevin Augustin's build up work in the 50th minute.
Despite staging a faultless performance, the hosts also ensured a negative highlight as Stefan Ilsanker saw his second yellow and received his marching orders in the 81st minute.
However, 10-man Leipzig were not done with the scoring and rounded off their win with a fourth goal as Matheus Cunha's pass into path found Jean-Kevin Augustin, who slotted home from inside the box with six minutes remaining.
With the result, the "Bulls" make a step big step towards the next qualification round. Meanwhile, BK Haecken will need a miracle to overcome a four-goal deficit on home soil on Thursday.
"Apart from the first twenty minutes we staged a good performance. We played tactically very well. We are in the second week of our preparations and still played a good game today," Leipzig's head coach Ralf Rangnick said. Enditem