Sparta Praha 3 : 1 Young Boys - Sparta Prague off winning mark

Sparta Prague are up and running in this season's Europa League after a 3-1 win over Young Boys.

The Czech side were beaten by the same scoreline by Napoli in their Group I opener and, with Young Boys hammering Slovan Bratislava 5-0, their task looked a tough one.

They made it look easy, though, with Lukas Vacha and David Lafata (two) scoring, while Guillaume Hoarau briefly gave the away side hope.

Sparta were deserving winners and can now attack the rest of the campaign with confidence.

They clearly felt the best way to nullify Young Boys was to get on top of them from the off, and registered the first effort just four minutes in as Ladislav Krejci warmed the hands of Landry Mvogo with a 25-yard free-kick.

Borek Docka also volleyed over from close in with not even six minutes gone, while Vacha then drew a fine save from Mvogo with another dipping free-kick.

Opportunities continued to present themselves to the home side and Krejci nodded over before drilling a free-kick into the wall.

The pressure would tell, though, in a devastating three-minute spell.

Twenty-six minutes in, Vacha slapped in a brilliant volley, connecting with Krejci's corner to open the scoring.

And then, as Young Boys looked to adjust, Tiemoko Konate slipped a pass in for Lafata, who tucked in a 28th-minute second.

The best Young Boys could muster by way of a first-half response was a Sekou Sanogo shot which David Bicik brilliantly repelled.

The Swiss had barely been in the game but that changed after the break, with Hoarau getting up to nod in a Scott Scutter cross for a 52nd-minute lifeline.

It did not quite spark an avalanche, even if Raphael Nuzzolo did head wide when he should have done better.

Kamil Vacek could then have made the game safe for Prague but was off target with his head, while Jakub Brabec was also guilty of being wasteful.

But Lafata made sure they were not made to pay by tucking in an 85th-minute third after Dockal's ball.