Tedesco cheers
©IMAGO
Under constant noise from the Turkish fans, VfB Stuttgart suffered their next defeat in the Europa League. The VfB professionals, who were booed almost constantly, lost 0-1 (0-1) to Domenico Tedesco and Fenerbahce in Istanbul. New signing Kerem Aktürkoğlu scored the decisive goal for the former Bundesliga coach’s team with a penalty kick in the 34th minute. While the Swabians slipped further in the table of the league phase after their second defeat, Tedesco and his team moved closer to the knockout phase.
In the heated atmosphere of the Turkish football cauldron, coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s team got off to a cautious start. Compared to the recent 3-0 win at VfL Wolfsburg, Hoeneß had changed to two positions and, among others, brought Angelo Stiller on from the start. However, the national player initially failed to bring control into the VfB game.
Two penalties taken back
It turned out to be a tough game in which both teams hardly allowed anything to happen defensively. The hosts had the better chances and consequently took the lead. After a corner, Stiller held his opponent Milan Skriniar with one hand in the penalty area and brought him down. Aktürkoğlu easily converted the following penalty into the right corner.
Against the cleverly defending Turks, VfB lacked the final punch for long stretches. Although the guests largely controlled the ball and repeatedly combined to move forward, they hardly created any compelling chances.
Things then got strange after about an hour: First, another penalty against VfB was taken back by the video referee because there had previously been an offside position. Shortly afterwards, the VAR also withdrew a penalty for the Swabians because Stiller had only been fouled in the Fenerbahce penalty area after he had finished.
The whistling concert against the Swabians continued afterwards and apparently didn’t leave the guests indifferent. Nevertheless, VfB got better, also because Fenerbahce seemed to be running out of condition. In the 81st minute, substitute Deniz Undav had a great chance to equalize, but the national striker failed to hit a low cross in the penalty area.