Silas was thwarted by a stubborn Cologne defence before VfB Stuttgart eventually held firm themselves after Luca Pfeiffer's second-half red card in a hard-fought 0-0 draw at the RheinEnergieStadion on Sunday.

Cologne 0-0 Stuttgart
Red card: Pfeiffer (56')

Both Cologne and Stuttgart went into Sunday's meeting without the services of respective leading men, Mark Uth and Sasa Kalajdzic, as the hosts defended their unbeaten start to the season against their visitors that were looking for a first league win of the campaign. The early exchanges were largely played at arm's length of each other until things opened up at both ends of the pitch 10 minutes before the break. Jonas Hector was presented with a perfect chance to open the scoring from early substitute Ondrej Duda's clever free-kick but the Billy Goats skipper fluffed his lines when unmarked from the penalty spot. It should have proved a costly miss moments later as Silas raced clear but couldn't get the better of Marvin Schwäbe who stood tall and denied the VfB striker with his legs. The hosts nearly thought they had found a way through on the stroke of half time, with Jeff Chabot's header beating Florian Müller but not the covering Konstantinos Mavropanos who safely cleared off the line.

Steffen Baumgart called for Sargis Adamyan at the start of the second half as Cologne looked to assert themselves in the match, but VfB were again the brighter of the two teams. Silas was thwarted twice in the first five minutes after the break and Baumgart was forced into another change soon after as Chabot went over on his ankle and hobbled from the pitch. Their chances were boosted with the dismissal of Pfeiffer, however, with the Stuttgart striker shown a straight red for a reckless challenge on his first league start for the club. With 20 minutes to play, VfB boss Pellegrino Matarazzo was also given his marching orders for two yellow cards as the temperature of an already heated contest continued to rise under the Cologne sunshine. The hosts almost won it in the fifth minute of injury-time but Jan Thielmann's sumptuous effort was superbly tipped over by Müller to ensure both sides shared a point.

Match stats

• Both teams claimed their first league clean sheets of the season.
• Silas (five) had as many shots as the entire Cologne team, who failed to score for the first time this season after managing just one on target compared to Stuttgart's five on target and eight off target.
• It was Cologne's first goalless game in 44 under Baumgart.
• In his third appearance for Stuttgart, Pfeiffer was shown the third red card of his career.
• It was Stuttgart's 143rd red card in the Bundesliga, which means they have seen red more than any other club in German top-flight history.
• Stuttgart have not won away in the Bundesliga since beating Wolfsburg 2-0 on 11 December 2021.

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Teams

Cologne: Schwäbe - Schmitz, Kilian, Chabot (Hübers 51'), Hector (c) - Skhiri, Martel (Kainz 60') - Schindler (Ljubicic 60'), Olesen (Duda 17'), Thielmann - Dietz (Adamyan 46')
Unused subs: Horn, Pedersen, Tigges, Maina
Out: Limnios (knee), Uth (pubic bone)
Coach: Steffen Baumgart

Stuttgart: Müller - Mavropanos, Anton, Ito – Vagnoman, Endo (c), Ahamada (Millot 90+4'), Sosa - Führich (Perea 61') - Pfeiffer, Silas (Stenzel 76')
Unused subs: Bredlow, Karazor, Kuol, Klimowicz, Kastanaras
Out: Coulibaly (toe), Kalajdzic (not included), Nartey (thigh), Tomas (tonsillitis)
Coach: Pellegrino Matarazzo

Watch: Ellyes Skhiri: "We have to thank Schwäbe"

About the clubs

1. FC Köln

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VfB Stuttgart

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