Feyenoord boosted its hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League with a comfortable 4-2 win over Sparta Prague in Rotterdam.

This result puts the Dutch team in 18th place in the table, but is only three points behind the top eight with games against Bayern Munich and Lille still remaining.

Goals from Gernot Trauner and Igor Paixao, just 89 seconds apart, gave the hosts complete control within 10 minutes.

Shortly before half an hour, Anis Hadj Moussa scored the third goal as Brian Priske’s team threatened to play a lethal game against their Czech opponents.

This was in complete contrast to Feyenoord’s previous appearance in the competition, where they came back from a three-goal deficit late on and drew at Manchester City in dramatic fashion.

Albion Rrahmani briefly gave the visitors hope of a fightback when he scored three minutes before half-time, but just after the hour, Mexico striker Santiago Gimenez restored Feyenoord’s three-goal lead with a shot from close range.

Gimenez’s achievement also meant Feyenoord became the first team to have a goalscorer from four different continents in a single Champions League game.

While Thomas Beelen’s own goal in the 79th minute gave the score a touch of respect, Feyenoord rarely looked like giving up their lead.

The focus of all pre-match discussions was Priske and his former assistant Lars Friis, who took over Sparta in the summer when his Danish compatriot left for the Netherlands.

However, based on this evidence, Priske will feel vindicated by moving to the Netherlands.

Sparta Prague are four points out of the play-off positions in 28th place and face Inter Milan and Bayer Leverkusen in their last two games.