Borussia Dortmund came from a goal down to beat 10-man Hoffenheim 3-1 at Signal Iduna Park on Sunday as Julian Nagelsmann's unbeaten start to his coaching career came to an end.
Having become the youngest manager in Bundesliga history when appointed at the age of 28 this month, Nagelsmann's side claimed four points from matches against Werder Bremen and Mainz before their trip to Dortmund.
And Hoffenheim looked set to move out of the bottom two when Sebastian Rudy opened the scoring midway through the first half on his 26th birthday.
However, a cynical foul on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang prior to the hour mark earned the birthday boy goal-scorer a red card and that proved a turning point as second-placed Dortmund eventually showed their quality.
Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Adrian Ramos and Aubameyang in the final stages settled the contest, as Nagelsmann came up short against Thomas Tuchel, his former Augsburg reserves mentor.
Hoffenheim were the only side in the bottom six to lose this weekend, Eintracht Frankfurt picking up a creditable 0-0 draw at home to Schalke.
Augsburg also inched further clear of danger as they bounced back from their Europa League exit at the hands of Liverpool to earn a 2-2 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach.
After Raffael's opener, quick-fire goals after the break from Alfred Finnbogason and Caiuby looked to have earned maximum points for the hosts at the WWK Arena.
However, Fabian Johnson replied with an equaliser soon after to earn a point that keeps Gladbach in the top four ahead of Mainz on goal difference.
Martin Schmidt's side beat fellow European hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 at the Coface Arena to leapfrog their visitors and Schalke into fifth.
Yunus Malli scored his first goals since November either side of a Jhon Cordoba strike - with Javier Hernandez's 65th-minute goal proving a consolation for Leverkusen, who had assistant Markus Krosche in the dugout due to Roger Schmidt's suspension.
The Leverkusen boss was given a five-match stadium ban for refusing to leave the technical area after being sent off during the defeat to Borussia Dortmund last week.
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