Hosts Telstar looked to build on their hot start after beating UEFA Champions League qualifiers NEC 2-1 in Nijmegen. Sparta, meanwhile, aimed to get their season going after falling 1-0 to Feyenoord in their season opener.
Sparta got what it wished for when Marvin Young was the last to touch the ball in a scrimmage, rolling it past Ronald Koeman Jr. to give the visitors the lead after six minutes.
Telstar were not up to the challenge in the first half, with Sparta nearly doubling the lead through Nokkvi Thorisson, Casper Terho, and Ayoni Santos, but Koeman kept Telstar alive with excellent saves.
The woodwork kept both sides from scoring early in the second half, with Ayoni Santos and Jelani Seedorf hitting the post on either side of the pitch within minutes of each other.
Nokkvi Thorisson finally doubled Sparta's lead after an hour's play, rewarding Shunsuke Mito's brilliant solo effort by burying the ball in the far corner.
Telstar gave themselves a lifeline after centre-half Abdelnour Soualhia beautifully and calmly beat goalkeeper Filip Bednarek with a keepy-up and smashed the ball into the roof of the goal, giving Telstar seven minutes of added time to find an equaliser.
A final push saw Ronald Koeman Jr. come all the way up for a corner given to Telstar after Bednarek wasted too much time, but the second time Koeman came up ended in despair, with Robin van Cruijsen ending the match 3-1 as he put the ball in an empty net.
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