Ermedin Demirovic's Hat-Trick Leads Stuttgart to Victory

Ermedin Demirovic chose quite a night to be ruthless.

On the club’s 133rd anniversary, under the lights of the MHP Arena and with the Champions League anthem still echoing in the stands, the Bosnian forward ripped through Viking FK with a hat-trick that felt as cold-blooded as it was clinical. VfB Stuttgart’s 3-1 win was not flawless, but it was emphatic enough to announce their return to Europe’s top table with intent.

A slow start, then a sharp cut

Stuttgart did not stride into this game. They crept. The opening exchanges were nervous, the passing cautious, the tempo oddly flat for such an occasion. Viking, organised and eager on the break, sensed that hesitation and sat tight, waiting for mistakes.

Then Demirovic arrived in the match.

On 20 minutes, Angelo Stiller slipped a clever ball into the box, threading it through a thicket of bodies. Demirovic reacted first, darting in and poking home from close range. One touch, one finish. The kind of goal that looks simple only because the striker’s movement is perfect.

Any idea that this would now become a procession vanished almost instantly. Just two minutes later, Viking struck back. Zlatko Tripic finished off a rapid counter, punishing Stuttgart’s loose defensive shape and briefly silencing the home crowd. The Bundesliga side had their lead, and then they didn’t. The tension returned.

It didn’t last long.

Twelve minutes of punishment

The equaliser jolted Stuttgart awake. The passing grew crisper, the press more aggressive, the attacks more layered. Viking, who had looked composed, suddenly found themselves dragged from side to side as Sebastian Hoeness’ team pushed higher and faster.

The pressure told, and again it was Demirovic who delivered.

Linking smartly with Deniz Undav, he found space and lashed his second into the roof of the net. No hesitation, no half-measures. It was a finish that underlined the difference between a decent chance and a definitive goal: same position, different conviction.

Viking wobbled. Stuttgart smelled blood.

Demirovic completed his hat-trick before the interval, once more combining with Undav. This time the goal was about poise, not power. Inside the penalty area, bodies closing in, he killed the ball, stayed calm, and picked his spot with supreme composure. Three goals in 12 minutes. A game that had been in the balance was suddenly tilted, hard, in Stuttgart’s favour.

By half-time, the contest felt almost decided. The scoreboard said 3-1, but the real story lay in the way Stuttgart had flipped the rhythm of the match, turning early anxiety into controlled dominance.

Control, with a warning attached

The second half carried a different tone. Stuttgart had their cushion and, with a long season ahead, little interest in turning the night into a track meet. They managed the ball, slowed the tempo, and forced Viking to chase.

Yet the visitors refused to disappear. On the counter, they remained dangerous, exploiting moments when Stuttgart’s defensive transitions frayed. There were flickers of unease, reminders that this Champions League league phase will punish lapses more severe than those seen here.

Demirovic, for all his heroics, recognised it. He spoke of the three points, the three goals, the satisfaction of justifying Stuttgart’s status as favourites. Then he cut through the euphoria, echoing Hoeness’ assessment: this team still has work to do, especially when possession turns over and the back line is exposed.

Those counters in the second period were not just isolated scares. They were warnings.

A statement striker for a demanding campaign

Undav could have stretched the scoreline late on, missing chances that would have buried Viking completely. It did not matter in the end. Stuttgart controlled the closing stages, kept the ball, and saw the game out with a maturity that has not always been their hallmark in Europe.

What will linger from this night, though, is the image of Demirovic as the sharp edge of Hoeness’ project. One touch finishes. Net-busting strikes. Ice-cool control in a crowded box. This was not a striker padding numbers in a dead rubber. This was a forward announcing himself on a stage Stuttgart have fought hard to reclaim.

Three goals, three points, and a clean marker laid down in the league phase.

The anniversary celebrations at the MHP Arena had their perfect centrepiece. Now comes the real test: can Stuttgart, armed with a ruthless No. 9 and a growing belief, carry this edge into the far tougher nights that await?