Bruno Fernandes gave the Romanian side hope of an upset when the defender headed them into a 19^th minute lead.

However, Javier Mascherano's thunderbolt on the half hour mark drew Liverpool level on the night before Ryan Babel's close-range finish extended the Reds' aggregate lead to 3-1 four minutes before the break.

Steven Gerrard added a third for the visitors shortly after half-time with typical accuracy following a weaving run by Yossi Benayoun.

It was a landmark strike from the captain, who has now scored the most goals by any British player for an English club in Europe.

Liverpool will meet Lille in the last 16 of the Europa League, with the second leg set to be played at Anfield.

Rafael Benitez was afforded the rare luxury of having an almost fully fit squad to choose from for the clash with Roni Levy's side - and, after impressing during a short cameo against Manchester City upon his return from injury at the weekend, the fit-again Benayoun was handed a starting berth in Romania.

It was particularly poignant the Israeli should begin the game for the Reds as it was on this date exactly 12 months ago he scored a late header to secure a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Bernabeu.

Meanwhile, Daniel Agger continued at the heart of the Reds' defence to make his 100^th appearance for the club in all competitions, with Fernando Torres once again on the bench.

Despite claiming a 1-0 first leg lead courtesy of David Ngog's 80^th minute header, Liverpool had insisted in the build-up to this game that they would travel to the Steaua Stadium with no intentions of attempting to sit back on their advantage.

But the first opportunity fell to Unirea, with Sorin Frunza's dipping effort just clearing Pepe Reina's crossbar inside the opening two minutes.

The visitors responded almost instantly and Steven Gerrard's raking drive from 20 yards brought a flying stop out of Giedrius Arlauskis.

The opening exchanges were a scrappy affair, with the home side enjoying marginally more possession than the Reds - and it took a fine sliding challenge from Agger to deny Marius Onofras a clear shooting chance on 18 minutes.

However, from the resulting corner, centre-back Fernandes rose highest to power a header beyond Pepe Reina to put Unirea into the lead on the night and level the aggregate scoreline at 1-1.

A succession of free-kicks around the box could not yield an immediate riposte for Liverpool, though they didn't have to wait too long to draw level.

After Arlauskis had smothered Babel's close-range effort, Unirea cleared straight into the path of Mascherano.

Without breaking stride, the Argentina captain powered an unstoppable first-time drive into the back of the net from 25 yards to leave the hosts needing to score two more goals if they were to progress.

The 'Wolves of Baragan' were not prepared to lay down, however, and after Emiliano Insua almost turned into his own net from a corner, Razvan Paduretu forced Reina to palm his stinging low volley around the base of the post.

Play soon swung back to the other end and Babel fired Liverpool into the lead with four minutes of the half remaining when the Dutchman smashed home from close-range after controlling Gerrard's free-kick inside a crowded box.

With the aggregate score firmly in the Reds' favour at 3-1, Unirea went into half-time knowing only an epic second-half comeback would keep their Europa League hopes alive.

A pair of Gerrard drives greeted the start of the second half while Liverpool also saw an early penalty appeal waved away by referee Stefan Johannesson.

Nonetheless the skipper didn't have to wait long to get on the scoresheet as Benayoun's mazy run into the area saw the ball break kindly for Gerrard, who made no mistake from 12 yards.

It was Gerrard's 33^rd goal in Europe - the most by any British player for an English club - and took him beyond Alan Shearer, whose 32 goals came with two teams (30 for Newcastle and two for Blackburn).

It was also the first time since September the Reds had scored more than twice away from home.

With Unirea now needing to net four times in the remaining half an hour, Rafa Benitez opted to bring on Martin Kelly in place of Jamie Carragher for the youngster's first senior appearance since an impressive display in the Champions League against Lyon.

Though the Reds were subjected to an injury scare soon after when Martin Skrtel was carried from the field following a heavy challenge, with Sotirios Kyrgiakos the Slovakian's replacement.

The final stages were fairly low-key, but Reina was required to produce a diving block from Marius Bilasco's strike.

Lille now await Benitez's charges, whose dreams of ending the campaign with silverware remain firmly intact.