Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Kevin Stöger blows off steam after scoring a dream goal in the midst of a dismal Bundesliga season

Borussia Mönchengladbach dream-goal scorer Kevin Stöger took the opportunity to blow off some steam after helping his team to a vital Bundesliga victory on Friday night. Stöger’s Gladbach bested relegation rivals St. Pauli 2-0 at home in the match-day 26 “curtain raiser”.

Stöger’s first goal of the season came at the perfect time for his team. The 32-year-old also happened to mark a personal milestone. Stöger has now made 200 Bundesliga appearances for Bochum, Mainz, Düsseldorf, and his current club.

Kevin Stöger awakens in midst of dismal season

In a Get German Football News feature piece on Gladbach’s place in the Bundesliga relegation fight published last week, Stöger was individually singled out as one of the BMG professionals who needed to step his game up in order to help the foals avoid the drop. Stöger has taken plenty of heat from Gladbach fans and the local press. 

Stöger provided a massive answer to all his critics and doubters with his 37th-minute 1-0. The Austrian international curled a free kick from a centralized position past the St. Pauli wall and into the bottom left corner of the goal from 25 meters out.

The brilliant overhead finish from Köln’s Ragnar Ache three weeks back suddenly has a strong challenger for the 2025/26 Bundesliga “Goal-of-the-Season” candidate. It took Stöger 21 league appearances to produce the stunner.

Statements on Stöger’s goal

“We discussed before the game that set pieces could be a game-changer,” Gladbach head coach Eugen Polanski told Sky Germany in his post-match interview. “But we were thinking more along the lines of corners and free-kick crosses. Stögi interpreted it a different way and I have nothing against that.

“This redemption arc makes for quite the storybook,” Polanski continued. “Here in Gladbach, he’s been often been viewed critically. Despite that, he’s worked very hard to fight his way back into the team in recent weeks.“

Stöger himself was still a little combative in the mixed zone.

“There have been some abysmal [free-kicks from me] this season,” Stöger said. “But I don’t give a damn. I’m enjoying this one today. I’m definitely satisfied with the victory.

“If you want to look at it critically, it wasn’t a good second half from us,” Stöger continued. “Things got restless in the stadium and there were some whistles [from the hometown fans].

“I really can’t understand that in a match like this with so much pressure,” Stöger concluded.