A last-minute penalty saw Sparta Rotterdam seal a 2-1 victory over Groningen.

Sparta had the best chance early on as they looked to bounce back from their defeat to Feyenoord but Michael Verrips made an excellent save to deny Shurandy Sambo. Ten minutes later, Sparta had the ball in the net, but Adil Auassar’s effort was ruled out due to offside.

Sparta dominated but it was Groningen who scored first after the hour as Ricardo Pepi headed in the opening goal. The striker was almost immediately substituted after scoring, though.

The hosts equalised 15 minutes from time as Sven Mijnans headed in a Vito van Crooij corner.

Two minutes before the end, Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot after a sliding challenge by Mike te Wierik on Tobias Lauritsen. VAR urged the referee to look at it, but he stuck to his judgment and Van Crooij fired Sparta to victory.

The win means Sparta is sixth while Groningen are 12th.




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