Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to eight points by winning 3-1 at Stuttgart on Saturday.
With nearest rivals Borussia Dortmund not in action until their Ruhr derby trip to Schalke on Sunday, defending champions Bayern knew a win would improve their dominant position at the top.
Pep Guardiola's men took the lead through an Georg Niedermeier own goal, before David Alaba added the second after half-time and Douglas Costa made sure of victory in the closing minutes after Daniel Didavi grabbed a goal back for Stuttgart.
Borussia Monchengladbach's hopes of Champions League qualification were dented with a 1-0 defeat at Ingolstadt, Moritz Hartmann scoring a late winner.
Mainz missed the chance to take advantage of Gladbach's defeat by being held 1-1 at Champions League quarter-finalists Wolfsburg, who had Dante sent off in injury time.
Nadiem Amiri and Mark Uth scored in a 2-0 win for Hoffenheim at second-bottom Eintracht Frankfurt, lifting their side away from the relegation zone and extending the team's unbeaten run to four league matches.
Augsburg climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen, who fall into the drop zone as a result of their defeat. Jeong-Ho Hong scored a late winner to complete the Augsburg comeback moments after coming on as a substitute.
Bremen's miserable day was completed by Darmstadt's 2-1 win at Hannover, the visitors rising to 13th place after breaking a run of four successive Bundesliga draws.
