Europa League
Penalty vortex in the “hell” of Istanbul: Stuttgart loses
Updated 10/23/2025 – 8:58 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
In the game on the Bosphorus, the Swabians not only have to come to terms with strong opponents on the pitch. The referee takes center stage three times.
Second defeat in a row for VfB Stuttgart in the Europa League: At the top Turkish club Fenerbahçe Istanbul, the Swabians narrowly lost 0-1 (0-1) on matchday 3.
Kerem Aktürkoğlu (34th) scored from the penalty spot to give the hosts victory in a hard-fought and exciting game. The Stuttgart team were treated to a concert of whistles by the “Fener” fans when they had the ball for almost the entire game time.
Referee Jakob Kehlet was the focus not only on the first, but on two further penalty scenes: First, another supposed penalty for the Istanbul team was canceled due to a previously recognized offside position (61st). Then the video referee intervened in a potential penalty for VfB after national player Angelo Stiller was supposedly fouled in the Fenerbahçe penalty area. Kehlet reversed his decision after viewing the pictures (68th).
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 Škriniar with one hand in the penalty area and brought him down. Aktürkoglu 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 withdrew a penalty for the Swabians because Stiller had only been fouled in the Fenerbahçe 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 Fenerbahçe 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.