Leipzig's first road win adds to Schalke's woes

RB Leipzig secured its first Bundesliga road win of the season and dealt another blow to an out-of-form FC Schalke 04. Coach Martin Demichelis’s team earned a well-deserved 2-0 (1-0) victory in Gelsenkirchen. In front of 61,581 spectators at the Arena auf Schalke, Antonio Nusa scored on a penalty kick (37th minute) and Romulo added another goal (78th minute). Schalke thus continues to wait for its first home win and its first home goal since being promoted.

Schalke switches to a back four

“We have a top-notch defensive structure,” Schalke coach Miron Muslic had emphasized to DAZN before the match. For the first time this season, however—partly due to a shortage of players—the coach switched to a back four. This defense came under pressure just three minutes in when Timo Becker unluckily deflected a free kick by David Raum into his own net. Since Willi Orban had been offside beforehand, the goal did not count.

Schalke also made an early offensive impact. Bundesliga starting lineup debutant Mertcan Ayhan sent Junior Adamu on his way with a clever chip, but Maarten Vandevoordt saved his shot (10th minute). During a Leipzig double chance, Loris Karius made a strong save against Nusa before Romulo headed the ball over the crossbar (15th minute). Despite Leipzig’s pace and individual talent, Schalke looked quite solid defensively in their new formation.

Tanaka’s Foul Puts Schalke Behind

That changed in the most unfortunate way possible: After Schalke had seemingly cleared the danger in their own penalty area, Satoshi Tanaka failed to see the onrushing Romulo and, in his attempt to clear the ball, struck the Leipzig player instead of the ball. Referee Max Burda immediately pointed to the spot. Amid loud boos from the Schalke fans, Nussa confidently fired the resulting penalty kick into the left corner.

RB kept up the pressure afterward and pushed for a second goal before halftime. In stoppage time, Karius first made a brilliant save against Ezechiel Banzuzi before he could only parry a shot from Brajan Gruda straight ahead. Romulo tapped in the rebound, but Schalke got lucky: Since the ball had already crossed the goal line beforehand, the goal was disallowed following a VAR review.

Karius kept Schalke in the game for a long time, Romulo sealed the win

After the break, the match immediately picked up pace. Banzuzi’s right-footed shot missed the left post by a hair (47'). Shortly afterward, Schalke had a chance to equalize off a corner kick, but Romulo cleared the ball at the last second before Adamu could get a shot off. At the other end, Karius first made a save with his left foot against Banzuzi (53') and, shortly afterward, used his fists to deny Nusa, preventing the score from becoming 0–2 and keeping Schalke in the game. 

With the substitution of veteran Edin Dzeko (68th minute), Schalke tried to make a mark on offense once again. But the team remained far too harmless in front of Leipzig’s goal. Instead, the visitors capitalized on a turnover by the Royal Blues. After a pass from Nusa, Romulo slotted the ball past a helpless Karius to make it 2–0, effectively sealing the victory.