ROTTERDAM, Netherlands : Two quickfire early goals laid the foundation for Feyenoord to boost their Champions League hopes with a comfortable 4-2 home win over Sparta Prague on Wednesday.
Gernot Trauner and Igor Paixao scored within 60 seconds as Feyenoord made a dream start to their home tie at De Kuip with Anis Hadj Moussa and Santiago Gimenez adding goals to keep the Dutch club on course for a spot in the knockout stages.
Feyenoord moved on to 10 points while Slavia, whose consolations came from Albion Rrahmani and a Thomas Beelen own goal, suffered a fourth defeat six group games and have a tough task to avoid elimination.
The Dutch hosts needed only nine minutes to get on the scoresheet from a corner with Trauner’s header downward taking a touch off Sparta defender Markus Solbakken and wrong-footing goalkeeper Peter Vindahl.
The second came when Feyenoord’s pressing stripped Kaan Kairinen of possession and Paixao ran from the halfway line before bending the ball wide of Vindahl.
Hadj Moussa scored a stunner on 30 minutes as he received the ball wide out on the right of the attack, cut inside and fired off a left-footed shot that flew in across the goalkeeper.
Feyenoord failed to clear a long throw that was flicked onto Rrahmani at the back post to make it 3-1 in the 43rd minute but Gimenez restored the comfortable margin when he took advantage of a defensive slip to bundle the ball over from close range.
Sparta’s second goal came from a cross in the 79th minute steered home a sliding Beelen into his own net.
The match was a reunion for Feyenoord coach Brian Priske with the team he took to the double in the Czech Republic last season. When he moved to the Netherlands, his assistant Lars Friis took over at Sparta.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by xEd Osmond)
