Stuttgart rise in Bundesliga with victory, Freiburg und Union held

VfB Stuttgart continued their recovery from a slow start into the Bundesliga season with a 2-1 comeback victory at Cologne on Sunday.

The hosts led early from Jakub Kaminski but Stuttgart reversed matters from Ermedin Demirovic's 29th-minute penalty and Josha Vagnoman's winner in the 81st.

German Cup winners Stuttgart rose to fifth with nine points from their second straight and third win from five matches.

Promoted Cologne are two points back in seventh as their good start has stalled, tied on points with Freiburg and Hoffenheim, who drew 1-1 earlier in the day.

Union Berlin also have seven points after being held 0-0 in a first ever Bundesliga match against SV Hamburg in the late game.

Stuttgart hit back after deficit

Cologne had the perfect start when Ragnar Ache found Kaminski for the opener four minutes into the game.

And it was almost 2-0 in the ninth when Ache lobbed over the onrushing goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, but his effort was cleared on the goalline.

Demirovic levelled from the spot after being hit by goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe in the heel. The visitors came close from Tiago Tomas in the 52nd before Vagnoman slotted the winner into the far corner with nine minutes left, set up superbly by Angelo Stiller.

"Not everything is working but we are doing the basics again and can play a good match. It was good how we reacted (to the early goal). That's what I want to see from my team," Stuttgart captain Atakan Karazor told streaming portal DAZN.

It was the third win in a row overall for Stuttgart as they also beat Celta Vigo in mid-week in the Europa League, where they next visit Basel on Thursday.

Freiburg held

Freiburg defeated Basel in their Europa League opener but failed to follow up with a third straight Bundesliga victory before their trip to Bologna.

Lukas Kübler tapped Freiburg ahead off a corner-kick three minutes into the game. But Hoffenheim were level in the 11th from Fisnik Asllani who converted a cross from the right by Vladimir Coufal.

Chances then became sparse, and Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu needed big late saves against Tim Lemperle and a free-kick from Muhammed Damar to spare his side from a second home defeat of the season.

"Overall, it was a really nasty game against Hoffenheim. In a game like that, the trick is to adapt. We did that okay for the most part," Atubolu said.

No goals in Berlin

In Berlin, Union coach Steffen Baumgart was suspended against his former club Hamburg because of a red card he picked up in last week's 4-3 surprise win at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Union were unable to follow up as Hamburg goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes saved a 10th-minute penalty from Andrej Ilic, and the hosts were denied by the post on Christopher Trimmel's dangerous corner-kick.

At the other end, Frederik Rönnow tipped a long-range blast from Jean-Luc Dompé over the bar, Fabio Vieira volleyed inches wide, and Ransford Königsdörffer also narrowly missed the target before Vieira was sent off in stoppage time.