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El Khannouss shines as Stuttgart see off Köln
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- El Khannouss shines as Stuttgart see off Köln
VfB Stuttgart beat Köln 4-1 as they recovered from last week's defeat to Bayern in style. Both sides have three points after the first two matchdays of the season.
Before the midpoint of the first-half, the hosts had four clear-cut opportunities to open the scoring. Bilal El Khannouss and Josha Vagnoman, who were both linked with moves to the Premier League in the final days of the transfer market, nearly combined for a goal with the first chance.
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However, the right-back produced an early season candidate for the "Miss of the season" as he rattled the crossbar almost from the goalline. Summer signing Dženan Pejčinović was the next to be denied by the woodwork before Marvin Schwäbe stayed alert to deny Deniz Undav and Grischa Prömel.
Stuttgart took a deserved half-time lead with the only goal needing a moment of brilliance from El Khannouss. The Moroccan international suddenly decided to take on the entire Köln defense by himself before his shot was deflected by Gideon Mensah on its way to the net.
The absence of last week's goalscorers Said El Mala and Thijs Dallinga due to illness clearly depleted the attack for the visitors. René Wagner played his cards early with half-time substitutions to introduce summer signings Mikey Moore and Ellyes Skhiri.
The Tottenham Hotspur loanee won a corner-kick inside the first 15 seconds of his Bundesliga spell. Meanwhile, Fabian Bredlow denied Skhiri from close range as the Tunisian followed Vagnoman with the game's second unbelievable miss.
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The game completely changed after the restart as Tom Krauß hit the sidenetting before Bredlow made a strong save from Moore's attempt inside ten minutes. At the other end, the hosts only needed one invitation this time around.
El Khannouss was involved once again as his key pass released Maximilian Mittelstädt, who spotted the unmarked Promel with a perfect cutback. The former Hoffenheim midfielder scored on his first appearance at MHPArena in Stuttgart colors.
The goal ended Köln's momentum as Schwäbe had to deny Pejčinović and Jeff Chabot to keep their slender hopes alive until Ermedin Demirović sealed the three points with a spectacular finish.
The substitute nearly set up Pejčinović minutes before deciding to go all alone with a brilliant finish from a difficult angle. Three minutes later, substitutes Moore and Marius Bülter combined for Köln's first goal of the game.
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The 19-year-old had a very promising debut for the visitors, but they still suffered a heavy defeat as Vagnoman continued his excellent start to the season with a volleyed finish in the 90th minute.
Promel and Stuttgart travel to Hoffenheim next week after starting their Champions League campaign at home against debutants Viking. Köln will hope to get back to winning ways when they entertain Werder Bremen in next week's Topspiel.
