ADO Den Haag beats Sparta 3-1 in first game under interim coach Levi Schwiebbe

Interim coach's first game ends in a win

ADO Den Haag beat Sparta 3-1 on Saturday evening, 7 November 2026, the first match since the club dismissed coach Robin Peter. Peter was sacked on Monday, 2 November, after a run of poor results that included a cup exit in Rijssen and a 1-0 home defeat to PEC Zwolle. Assistant coach Levi Schwiebbe, 40, took charge as interim head coach and made his Eredivisie debut as head coach in this match. The win was ADO's second of the season and leaves the club 17th in the table, three points behind Sparta in 12th place.

Early lead and Sparta's chances

Sparta created the better chances in the opening half, but ADO took the lead in the 22nd minute. A corner reached the far post, Jalen Hawkins knocked the ball back, and Juho Kilo headed in. Milan Zonneveld, who had scored nine times in his previous ten official matches, then hit the post from the rebound of a Shunsuke Mito shot. ADO goalkeeper Kilian Nikiema kept his side ahead at half-time despite sustained pressure from Sparta.

Brouwer's errors decide the match

Sparta equalised shortly after the restart. Zonneveld headed a cross back to Bas Kuipers, who scored against his former club to make it 1-1. Five minutes later the match turned. Sparta goalkeeper Michael Brouwer received a back pass from Isaac Babadi with Nigel Thomas pressing, lost control of the ball, and Thomas took it off him to make it 2-1. Brouwer then hurt his ankle with a quarter of an hour left and was replaced by Filip Bednarek. Within a minute of coming on, Bednarek had to retrieve the ball from the net after Daryl van Mieghem, 36, finished a low cross from Cameron Peupion to make it 3-1.

Sparta's late push and the coaching search

Sparta coach Rogier Meijer sent on Jens Toornstra and Joel Ideho late in the game, but the side could not mount a comeback. Pascal Mulder also left the pitch after a collision during the match. Several media outlets name Maurice Steijn as the leading candidate to succeed Peter, but no successor had been confirmed in the reporting. Schwiebbe's side now has a win to build on as the club looks for a permanent coach.