Japan midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake set up two goals as Nuremberg compounded a miserable week for Atsuto Uchida's Schalke with a 3-0 win in the German Bundesliga on Saturday.
Victory lifted Nuremberg into 11th in the table, while Schalke was left licking its wounds again, defeat coming on the heels of its elimination from the Champions League by Galatasaray in midweek.
Schalke made a lively start and Julian Draxler hit the woodwork midway through the first half. But Markus Feulner put Nuremberg ahead on 31 minutes with a cool finish before Kiyotake's pass picked out Alexander Esswein to make it 2-0 in the 69th.
Kiyotake was also the architect for the third, sending a through ball for Mike Frantz to seal victory three minutes from time.
"Schalke were probably tired but it was nice to get the win," said Kiyotake. "They hit the post a couple of times and if they had scored from those chances it could have turned out to be a different game. We had a bit of luck today."