Stuttgart get back to winning ways in Europe after late surge | OneFootball

In front of a cracking atmosphere from two fantastic fanbases, the first half between Stuttgart and Feyenoord was a slow burner, with neither side really managing to play with the fluidity they would have liked early on. 

Anis Hadj Moussa twisted and turned inside the box to test Alexander Nübel in between the sticks in the 14th minute, but as proved a common theme, neither the hosts nor the visitors gained full control, though Feyenoord themselves can be considered to have edged the half.

Hadj Moussa was presented with a free-kick opportunity on the edge of the box on the stroke of half-time after being taken down by Maximilian Mittelstädt, though the Feyenoord captain fired straight into the wall, keeping the scores level heading into the break.

Bilal El Khannouss came the closest of either side in the 58th minute when his powerful effort from the edge of the box forced a good save out of Timon Wellenreuther following a Chema Andres cutback. Stuttgart were beginning to claw back some control after a period of Feyenoord dominance throughout the early stages of the second half.

The match was beginning to become end-to-end. Deniz Undav saw an effort decently saved inside the box, before Jamie Leweling headed wide as Stuttgart recycled play. All the while, the decibels coming from Cannstatter Kurve kept on rising, before Tiago Tomas hit the side netting with a powerful effort on the angle after being slipped through by Lorenz Assignon.

The match remained frustratingly on a knife-edge, and it would be the hosts who eventually found the breakthrough in the 84th minute through Moroccan star El Khannouss. 

Following a slick move, right-back Assignon floated an enticing ball into the box, which the attacking midfielder met perfectly with a header that bounced in off the underside of the crossbar to send Neckarstadion into raptures.

The hosts weren't finished there. With Feyenoord throwing bodies forward in search of an equaliser, VfB broke with precision in additional time at the end of the match, with Chris Führich sliding the ball across for the ever-persistent Undav to prod home from close range.

With the match wrapped up, Stuttgart got back to winning ways in the Europa League after two successive losses, lifting them back up to 20th place ahead of their Bundesliga fixture against Augsburg on Sunday.