Bosnia-Herzegovina forward, Ermedin Demirovic, scored a first-half hat-trick as Stuttgart defeated Champions League debutants Viking 3-1 on Wednesday.
Demirovic needed just 12 minutes to complete his treble after opening the scoring in the 20th minute.
He finished from close range following Angelo Stiller’s cut-back to give Stuttgart the lead.
Viking, the Norwegian champions, responded almost immediately, with captain Zlatko Tripic restoring parity two minutes later.
Stuttgart regained the advantage shortly afterwards when Demirovic converted a pass from Deniz Undav to score his second of the night.
The German side’s attacking pair combined again in the 32nd minute, with Demirovic controlling Undav’s pass before firing a volley into the net to complete his hat-trick.
There was a VAR check for a possible handball during the build-up to the third goal, but the effort stood.
Viking goalkeeper Arild Ostbo may also have felt he could have done better with the finish.
Viking came out with greater attacking intent after the interval, while Stuttgart adopted a more defensive approach.
However, the visitors could not find another goal as Stuttgart held on for all three points.
The Norwegian side face another difficult Champions League assignment next week when they host German champions Bayern Munich in their first home fixture of the campaign.
