Ten-man Bayern Munich took a giant step towards the Bundesliga title on Sunday after coming from behind to beat Bochum 3-1 and open up a nine-point lead at the summit.
Mimoun Azaouagh put Bochum ahead in the fourth minute and Bayern's Mark van Bommel was sent off just short of the half-hour mark.
But Lucio equalised three minutes later and the hosts sealed the win with Franck Ribery's 73rd-minute penalty and Christian Lell's goal two minutes from time.
Bayern are now nine points clear with seven games left.
In Sunday's other game, Bayer Leverkusen failed to emerge from their slump as Borussia Dortmund scored two late goals for a 2-1 win.
Leverkusen came into the game on the back of two defeats and a nightmare 4-1 drubbing by Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg.
But Stefan Kiessling gave Leverkusen the lead in the 51st minute and Michael Skibbe's men looked to have secured an away win until Alexander Frei levelled in the 87th minute and Dede snatched an injury-time winner.
The loss leaves Leverkusen on 44 points in sixth place.
On Saturday, Schalke moved up to second place with a hard-earned 1-0 victory at home to struggling Hansa Rostock.
Halil Altintop scored the game's only goal in the 52nd minute as the hosts - beaten in midweek by Barcelona - racked up their fourth successive victory.
Their elevation in the standings came at the expense of Hamburg, who lost 1-0 at Stuttgart.
The reigning champions' recent form has propelled them up the table into a UEFA Cup spot and Roberto Hilbert scored the game's only goal in the 20th minute.
Werder Bremen consolidated fourth place with a late win at Hertha Berlin.
Werder took the lead in the second minute through Markus Rosenberg but it was shortlived as Andre Lima equalised for Hertha eight minutes later.
But as the game was heading for a draw, Tim Borowski notched the winner for the visitors in the 72nd minute.
Wolfsburg closed in on the UEFA Cup places after an Ashkan Dejagah double ensured a 3-2 win over Hannover.
The young striker struck once in each half as the Wolves moved to within two points of fifth-placed Stuttgart.
Arnold Bruggink cancelled out Dejagah's opener, only for Marcelinho to put Felix Magath's men back in front two minutes later.
And Dejagah sealed the points with 19 minutes remaining before Jiri Stajner struck to ensure a nervous finale.
Nurnberg saw off Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 after goals from Angelos Charisteas, Robert Vittek and Zvjezdan Misimovic wiped out Michael Fink's third-minute effort for the hosts.
Elsewhere, Arminia Bielfeld substitute Leonidas Kampantais scored an injury-time winner to sink Karlsruhe 1-0.
On Friday night Ervin Skela's early header was enough to secure Energie Cottbus' first away win of the season with a 1-0 victory at Duisberg.
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