Draw against Paris

Match summary

It was an intensive encounter from the off between Sebastian Hoeneß’s charges and the French top-flight outfit, although VfB looked the better side initially.

Jovanovic opens the scoring

That was reflected in the scoreline in the 15th minute when Lazar Jovanovic finished inside the box after some fine work from Chris Führich, putting VfB 1-0 up.

Mittelstädt prevents equaliser, misses penalty

Maximilian Mittelstädt came to Stuttgart’s rescue in the 26th minute when he cleared an effort from Moses Simon off the line. Just six minutes later, the VfB full-back was fouled inside the Paris penalty box, but saw his subsequent spot-kick kept out by goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who kept his side in the game at half-time with several other saves.

Zagadou doubles lead, Hendriks hits crossbar

Hoeneß’s charges deservedly extended their advantage in the 54th minute when Führich’s free-kick into the box was headed in by Dan-Axel Zagadou. VfB could have added more, but Yanik Spalt was thwarted by Trapp (65’) and Ramon Hendriks’ header crashed off the crossbar (66’) in quick succession.

Koleosho brace

Luca Koleosho pulled a goal back for Paris following a counterattack in the 71st minute, and he grabbed the equaliser shortly before full time (105’) to leave the final score at 2-2.

Goals

1-0 – 15th minute: Führich crosses into the middle from the left and finds Jovanovic, who buries the ball in the top-left corner.

2-0 – 54th minute: Zagadou heads in Führich’s cross from seven metres out.

2-1 – 71st minute: Paris burst forward on the counter, culminating in Koleosho bearing down on goal and reducing the deficit.

2-2 – 105th minute: Koleosho wriggles his way through the VfB rearguard and levels the score just before the end.

Reaction:

Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß: “This game was a first real test of our mettle and it was exactly what we needed right now. We can take lots of positives from this match against Paris; we created chances and had some good passages of play. It’s a shame that we didn’t get the win in the end. Overall, we’ve built a solid foundation and gained some valuable insights, and we’ll now take the next steps in our preparations at the training camp.”

Notable mentions

The match was played across two 45-minute halves, plus an additional 15 minutes.