PSV manager Peter Bosz shuffled some pieces around after his side’s midweek draw against Shakhtar Donetsk, leaving Ivan Perisic, Ricardo Pepi, and Ruben van Bommel on the bench to give Esmir Bajraktarevic, Sven Mijnans, and youngster Amir Bouhamdi starts.
PSV dominated the opening minutes as expected, but surprisingly fell to a Sparta goal when Czech stopper Matej Kovar rushed out and completely missed the ball, leaving Milan Zonneveld to essentially walk the ball into an empty net.
The reigning champions recovered eight minutes later via Sven Mijnans, who headed in an inviting Esmir Bajraktarevic cross between three sleeping Sparta defenders.
After a period of moderate pressure from PSV, the natural order was restored with 8 minutes remaining in the first half: Kodai Sano had the ball on the edge of the box and delivered a strike that proved too powerful for the questionably acting Michael Brouwer, making for his first PSV goal.
Sparta opened the second half on the most dangerous side, with Zonneveld testing Kovar once more, but the Czech kept the striker from bagging the equaliser.
The visitors from Rotterdam kept knocking on the door, with Zonneveld and Marvin Young having headers cleared off the line before Nick Verschuren’s backheel effort flew just wide of the post.
Instead of the equaliser, PSV built on the lead via Mijnans, who stood in the right place at the right time to tap in a rebound.
Mijnans completed his first PSV hat-trick to put the game beyond all doubt on the cusp of full-time - Lutsharel Geertruida picked up a clearance and laid it off to Mijnans, who beautifully curled it into the far corner to put an exclamation mark on a fantastic display.
After AZ left two points on the board against promoted Willem II on Friday, PSV take over the top spot with a 4-1 win over Sparta. Up next for the reigning champions is a tricky away game at FC Twente.
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