Stuttgart cruise past Cologne to bounce back from Bayern thumping

Stuttgart bounced back impressively from their opening-day defeat to Bayern Munich with a 4-1 home victory over Cologne in the Bundesliga on Friday. Bilal El Khannouss opened the scoring with a brilliant individual goal, while Josha Vagnoman added a stunning long-range volley. Stuttgart, who secured a Champions League return with a fourth-place finish last season but lost heavily to Bayern last week, dominated the match from start to finish.

Grischa Proemel, who scored Stuttgart's third goal, stated, "We wanted to show a reaction after the Bayern game and that's what we've done." El Khannouss, a former Leicester winger, described his goal as "pure instinct," stating, "It's not something you can train, it just happens in the moment. Let's hope it's the first of many this season."

Proemel added a second goal 15 minutes before halftime after a move down the flank, while Demirovic scored from a tight angle in the 66th minute. Cologne managed to pull one back through debutant Mikey Moore, who scored an own goal, but Stuttgart sealed the win in the final minute with Vagnoman's clearance hitting the top corner.