VfB Stuttgart 4-1 Köln: El Khannouss Leads Four-Goal Response Before Champions League Return

STUTTGART, Germany, September 4, 2026: VfB Stuttgart spent the opening week of the Bundesliga season carrying the weight of a 5-1 defeat at Bayern Munich.

Their first home game delivered a very different picture.

Bilal El Khannouss opened the scoring in the 39th minute, Grischa Prömel added a second after the break, Ermedin Demirović made it 3-0, and Josha Vagnoman completed a 4-1 victory over 1. FC Köln at the MHPArena.

Köln briefly reduced the deficit through a Ramon Hendriks own goal in the 81st minute, but Stuttgart never allowed the match to become genuinely uncomfortable. Vagnoman restored the three-goal margin in the 90th minute and gave the home crowd the finish a much-improved performance deserved.

The result gives Stuttgart their first points of the 2026-27 Bundesliga season and changes the atmosphere around Sebastian Hoeneß’ team only days before their return to the UEFA Champions League.

That timing matters.

Stuttgart’s 5-1 defeat at Bayern on opening night had exposed how quickly a competitive performance can collapse against elite opposition. Josha Vagnoman had equalized in Munich before Bayern scored four more and turned the match into a rout.

Against Köln, Stuttgart produced the opposite response.

They scored first, protected the advantage when the visitors improved, and punished the spaces that appeared later.

VfB Stuttgart 4-1 Köln: Match at a Glance

Official match information, Bundesliga standings and fixture details are available through the Bundesliga match center.

The Scoreline Matters Because Stuttgart Had to Answer Bayern Quickly

Opening-week defeats can be absorbed.

Heavy defeats create different questions.

Bayern did not simply beat Stuttgart 5-1 at the Allianz Arena. They scored four times after Stuttgart had equalized, and the match exposed the danger of losing control after a setback.

The Sports Encounter’s full Bayern-Stuttgart report highlighted how Michael Olise, Aleksandar Pavlović and Luis Díaz turned a brief 1-1 contest into an emphatic opening-night warning.

Stuttgart therefore arrived home with an immediate need to show that Munich had been a bad result rather than an early-season trend.

Hoeneß made two changes to the starting lineup.

Bilal El Khannouss came in for his first competitive appearance of the season, while Chris Führich also returned to the starting XI. Tiago Tomás was unavailable through injury.

The choice to bring El Khannouss directly into the side proved decisive.

Bilal El Khannouss Gives Stuttgart the Breakthrough They Had Earned

Stuttgart controlled much of the first half and repeatedly pushed Köln backward.

They also hit the woodwork twice before the breakthrough arrived.

El Khannouss finally converted the pressure in the 39th minute.

The goal was more than a simple opener.

It rewarded Stuttgart for playing with the intensity Hoeneß had demanded before the match and ensured the home side did not carry frustration into halftime after dominating without scoring.

Köln had arrived with confidence after beating Hoffenheim 3-2 on opening weekend.

That momentum was already weakened by the absence of two important attacking players.

Said El Mala was ruled out through illness, while Thijs Dallinga, who had scored twice as a substitute against Hoffenheim, was also unavailable.

The visitors therefore entered the MHPArena without both of their opening-day goalscorers.

Stuttgart took advantage.

Grischa Prömel Scores on a Big Night for a Summer Signing

Köln emerged more aggressively after halftime and created several better attacking moments.

That made Stuttgart’s second goal particularly important.

Prömel struck in the 60th minute to make it 2-0 and restore the home side’s control at the point where Köln were beginning to look more dangerous.

The goal also carried personal significance.

Prömel joined Stuttgart during the summer and had already been confirmed as one of the club’s vice-captains behind Deniz Undav.

Scoring in the first home league match gave the midfielder an immediate connection with the crowd and provided Hoeneß with another source of goals beyond the established front line.

That kind of secondary scoring will matter throughout the season.

Stuttgart are preparing to compete domestically and in the Champions League, where attacking responsibility cannot sit entirely with Undav and Demirović.

Fabian Bredlow Protects the Lead When Köln Improve

The final score suggests Stuttgart controlled every phase comfortably.

Köln had their strongest spell after halftime.

That was where Fabian Bredlow became important.

The Stuttgart goalkeeper made several saves that prevented the visitors from cutting the deficit while the game was still within reach.

A goal at 1-0 or even shortly after Prömel made it 2-0 could have changed the emotional direction of the second half.

Bredlow prevented that.

His work gave Stuttgart enough stability for the attacking players to punish Köln later.

Ermedin Demirović Makes His Köln Record Even Better

Demirović entered from the bench and scored Stuttgart’s third goal in the 75th minute.

The timing ended most of the remaining uncertainty.

His record against Köln was already strong before kickoff.

Stuttgart’s official pre-match data showed that Demirović had been directly involved in seven Bundesliga goals against Köln before this match, including five goals and two assists.

He had also scored in both league meetings with Köln during the previous season.

The latest goal extends a pattern that Hoeneß will be happy to keep using.

Demirović gives Stuttgart another experienced central attacking option and allows the coach to change the shape of the front line without losing penalty-box threat.

Köln Get One Back Through Ramon Hendriks

Köln finally found a route onto the scoreboard in the 81st minute.

The goal came through an own goal by Ramon Hendriks.

At 3-1, the visitors briefly had a reason to attack the closing minutes aggressively.

The score also created an uncomfortable echo for Stuttgart.

A week earlier, Vagnoman had experienced both sides of the scoreboard in Munich, scoring Stuttgart’s equalizer before later putting through his own net during Bayern’s response.

This time, Stuttgart avoided any late collapse.

Josha Vagnoman Finishes the Night at the Other End

Vagnoman scored in the 90th minute to restore Stuttgart’s three-goal advantage and complete the 4-1 victory.

His goal carried a useful piece of symbolism after the Bayern match.

In Munich, he had been at the center of a three-minute swing that took Stuttgart from 1-1 to 3-1 down.

At home against Köln, he supplied the final goal of a victory rather than being caught inside the opponent’s surge.

That does not erase what happened at Bayern.

It does show how quickly football provides opportunities to reset.

VfB Stuttgart vs Köln: Goal Timeline

From 1-5 to 4-1 in Seven Days

The numbers create an obvious contrast.

Stuttgart have therefore gone from losing by four goals to winning by three within one week.

That swing is useful without being definitive.

Bayern remain the Bundesliga benchmark and began their title defense with exactly the type of depth that made them so difficult to catch last season.

The Sports Encounter recently examined how Harry Kane’s 36-goal Bundesliga season earned him another European Golden Shoe, yet Bayern still scored five against Stuttgart without Kane finding the net.

Köln offered a different level of challenge.

Stuttgart handled it.

The next question is whether they can carry the same confidence into stronger fixtures.

Stuttgart’s Home Record Continues to Matter

The MHPArena has become an increasingly important source of points for Stuttgart.

They won 12 of 17 Bundesliga home matches last season, giving them one of the strongest home records in the division.

That made the first home game particularly valuable after the defeat in Munich.

A Champions League-qualified side needs its own stadium to remain a reliable advantage when the calendar becomes congested.

European weeks will reduce preparation time.

Rotation will increase.

Injuries will force changes.

Home matches provide some of the best opportunities to protect domestic momentum.

Stuttgart began that process with four goals.

Köln’s Missing Attack Changed the Test

Köln deserve some context for their performance.

They opened the season with a dramatic 3-2 victory over Hoffenheim and arrived in Stuttgart with considerable confidence.

They did so without Said El Mala and Dallinga.

Those absences removed the two players who had provided the decisive scoring in Matchday 1.

El Mala has been one of Germany’s most productive young forwards, while Dallinga had already made an immediate impact after his move.

That left Köln less dangerous in the penalty area even when they improved after halftime.

René Wagner’s side still created moments.

They simply lacked the finishing and attacking continuity required to turn those moments into sustained pressure.

Why El Khannouss Could Become More Important Than One Goal

El Khannouss’ contribution deserves more attention than the opening goal alone.

He gave Stuttgart another player capable of carrying the ball, connecting midfield to attack and creating disruption between lines.

That profile becomes particularly important in Europe.

Champions League opponents will not always give Stuttgart the spaces Köln eventually provided.

Hoeneß will need players capable of breaking structures through movement and individual quality.

El Khannouss provided an early example of that value on his first competitive appearance of the season.

Champions League Football Arrives Immediately

Stuttgart do not have much time to enjoy the victory.

They return to the UEFA Champions League on September 9 when Viking visit the MHPArena.

UEFA has confirmed that the match will be Stuttgart’s first league-phase fixture of the 2026-27 competition.

Viking are appearing in the Champions League proper for the first time.

The Norwegian club’s qualification was one of the stories highlighted in The Sports Encounter’s Champions League playoff wrap.

The official UEFA Champions League hub lists Stuttgart’s league-phase schedule, which also includes Atlético Madrid, Inter, Galatasaray, Lille, Club Brugge and PSV Eindhoven.

That fixture list explains why Friday’s result matters beyond three Bundesliga points.

Stuttgart needed rhythm before Europe began.

They found it.

The European Schedule Will Test Stuttgart’s Depth

September introduces a new challenge for Hoeneß.

Stuttgart play Viking on September 9, travel to Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga three days later and then host Borussia Dortmund on September 19.

The rhythm changes immediately.

Training time becomes recovery time.

Rotation becomes essential.

Players such as Demirović, Prömel, El Khannouss, Führich, Undav and Vagnoman will all need to contribute over different starting lineups.

That is why four different scorers against Köln provide a useful sign.

Stuttgart did not need one player to carry the entire attacking output.

German Football Is Entering Another Interesting Club Cycle

The Bundesliga season is also unfolding after a difficult World Cup summer for Germany.

The national team began the tournament explosively with a 7-1 victory over Curaçao and later needed a second-half response to defeat Côte d’Ivoire.

The campaign eventually ended in disappointment when Paraguay eliminated Germany on penalties.

That puts additional attention on the Bundesliga and Germany’s Champions League clubs as the domestic game moves into a new season.

Bayern remain the obvious standard.

Stuttgart’s task is to prove that finishing fourth last season and qualifying for Europe was part of a sustainable rise rather than a temporary peak.

Beating Köln 4-1 is a useful step in that argument.

Köln Still Have Reasons to Avoid Overreaction

One heavy away defeat should not erase everything Köln showed on opening weekend.

The visitors were missing important attackers and faced a Stuttgart side playing its first home match after a humiliating loss.

That was a difficult emotional combination.

The problem for Köln was how little resistance they offered once Stuttgart found the opening goal.

They improved after halftime but never fully changed the structure of the game.

Wagner will now need to restore the attacking sharpness that produced three goals against Hoffenheim.

Sebastian Hoeneß Gets the Response He Needed

Hoeneß had spoken before the match about staying calm and focused after Munich.

The performance reflected that message.

Stuttgart did not enter the game trying to erase five Bayern goals in the first 10 minutes.

They controlled the first half, kept creating chances after hitting the woodwork and eventually found the breakthrough through El Khannouss.

The second half then required a different quality.

Köln improved.

Stuttgart responded with goals.

That is a much healthier game pattern than the collapse seen at Bayern.

What Comes Next for Stuttgart?

The immediate focus moves to Europe.

Viking visit Stuttgart on September 9 for the opening Champions League league-phase fixture.

Three days later, VfB return to Bundesliga action away at Hoffenheim.

The club’s official fixture schedule then shows Dortmund visiting the MHPArena on September 19.

The next two weeks will therefore tell us much more about Stuttgart’s depth, recovery and ability to move between competitions.

The Sports Encounter Verdict

VfB Stuttgart needed more than three points against Köln.

They needed proof that the Bayern defeat had not damaged the confidence of a team preparing for Champions League football.

The response was convincing.

El Khannouss gave Stuttgart the lead after a dominant first half.

Prömel struck when Köln were beginning to improve.

Demirović added another goal from the bench.

Vagnoman completed the night after experiencing a difficult opening weekend in Munich.

Four scorers, four goals and three points give Hoeneß exactly the platform he wanted before Viking arrive.

The win does not suddenly place Stuttgart alongside Bayern as a title favorite.

It does restore the broader picture.

This is still a team that finished fourth last season, remains extremely strong at home and has enough attacking variety to trouble opponents when its structure holds.

Europe will ask harder questions.

Friday night ensured Stuttgart will answer them with considerably more confidence than they carried out of Munich.

For continuing Bundesliga, Champions League and international football coverage, visit The Sports Encounter Soccer Hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the VfB Stuttgart vs Köln score?

VfB Stuttgart defeated 1. FC Köln 4-1 at the MHPArena on September 4, 2026.

Who scored for Stuttgart against Köln?

Bilal El Khannouss, Grischa Prömel, Ermedin Demirović and Josha Vagnoman scored Stuttgart’s four goals.

How did Köln score?

Köln’s goal came through an own goal by Stuttgart defender Ramon Hendriks in the 81st minute.

When did Bilal El Khannouss score?

El Khannouss opened the scoring for Stuttgart in the 39th minute.

Did Ermedin Demirović start against Köln?

No. Demirović came off the bench and scored Stuttgart’s third goal in the 75th minute.

Was this Stuttgart’s first Bundesliga win of the season?

Yes. Stuttgart lost 5-1 at Bayern Munich on Matchday 1 before beating Köln 4-1 in their first home league game.

Who do Stuttgart play next?

Stuttgart host Viking in the UEFA Champions League on September 9 before travelling to Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on September 12.

Why were Said El Mala and Thijs Dallinga absent for Köln?

Both were unavailable because of illness, according to the official Bundesliga match information.

How did Stuttgart perform at home last season?

Stuttgart won 12 of their 17 Bundesliga home matches last season, giving them one of the strongest home records in the division.

Are Stuttgart playing in the Champions League this season?

Yes. Stuttgart return to the UEFA Champions League in 2026-27 and begin their league-phase campaign at home against Viking.