RB Leipzig go back-to-back as Nusa and Romulo Cardoso down Schalke

It temporarily looked as though Leipzig’s fast start would be rewarded with a goal from Timo Becker’s errant touch, but that was flagged offside and their momentum was soon stopped by the hosts.

Junior Adamu failed to get a vital touch to take Kenan Karaman’s ball past Maarten Vandevoort though, and Leipzig responded with Antonio Nusa’s effort which was turned away well by an in-form Loris Karius, before Romulo Cardoso nodded over in the aftermath.

A lull followed as Schalke settled into their characteristic defensive setup, but the visitors’ breakthrough finally came with 37 minutes played. Satoshi Tanaka took a heavy touch in his own area and inadvertently kicked Romulo as he tried to steal the ball away.

Referee Max Burda pointed to the spot, leaving Nusa to emphatically dispatch it into the bottom left corner, giving Leipzig a slender half-time lead.

Martin Demichelis’ side stayed in control after the break, with a couple of chances falling to Ezechiel Banzuzi, the second of which was saved one-on-one by Karius.

More chances went begging for Leipzig after that, and with the game still in the balance, Schalke played their joker in the form of legendary marksman Edin Dzeko. 

However, before he could make an impact, they were hit on the counter by Tidiam Gomis, whose pass from the right side was helped on by Nusa and then into the far corner of the net by Romulo for the Brazilian’s first away goal since April.

Given that they’ve only scored four times this campaign – with three of those coming in one game – Schalke were never likely to get back into it, meaning Leipzig cruised to their first away points since April and are now hot on the tails of the top two ahead of Der Klassiker later on Saturday.

Stepping up into such a competitive division was never going to be easy for Die Konigsblauen, and Miron Muslic will undoubtedly be given more time to turn things around as long as the goals start to come soon.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Antonio Nusa (RB Leipzig)

Check out the match stats here.