El Khannouss savours first Bundesliga goal as Sands laments Pauli’s shortcomings | OneFootball

For Stuttgart, tonight's win was as much about character as it was about points, following last week's late collapse against Freiburg.

Bilal El Khannouss, the 21-year-old Moroccan midfielder, spoke with visible pride after capping a strong performance with his first league goal since arriving from Leicester.

“We are happy with the win, we wanted the points back from last week,” he said. “We showed a great spirit, fought all together, and we are happy. We were much stronger in the duels; we put more intensity, and we were calmer with the ball.”

The moment he will remember longest came in the 49th minute, when he side-footed into the corner after a flowing team move. “Very special,” El Khannouss said, smiling. “For me, my family who are here today - I hope it is the first of many.”

He also paid tribute to the Stuttgart supporters who roared his name throughout the night: “It is a good competition [The Bundesliga] for young players like me, and a dream to play in such stadiums. We thank the fans for the atmosphere tonight.”

For St. Pauli, the mood was more sober. Midfielder James Sands admitted his team fell short in fundamentals. “I think we struggled,” he said. “One of the best things for us has been our defence, but we didn’t have that. We lost a lot of duels. When you play a good team, the technical execution has to be better - and we couldn’t put it together in the final third.”

Sands was quick to praise goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj, who saved a first-half penalty from Angelo Stiller. “It’s unbelievable,” he said. “But we can’t expect him to bail us out every game.”

And though outsiders may have painted this as a free hit for Pauli, Sands insisted the squad are demanding more. “It is always disappointing,” he said. “Many people say this is a game we shouldn’t expect to win, but as a team, we have different expectations. We believe that.”

Stuttgart’s win lifts some of the pressure that had grown after their late collapse in Freiburg, while Pauli are left to reflect on what Sands called a night of “struggles” at both ends of the pitch.