Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich fought back from a goal down to win 3-1 at promoted VfB Stuttgart while their big rivals Borussia Dortmund were stunned 2-1 at home by Cologne to lose crucial ground in the title race.
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Kingsley Coman and the prolific Robert Lewandowski turned the match for Bayern after Tanguy Coulibaly opened the scoring for the hosts, while Douglas Costa added a late third for the leaders.
Champions Bayern now head the table by two points from RB Leipzig before a big showdown between the pair next week.
Leipzig had little problem in dismissing Arminia Bielefeld 2-1 while the big surprise was Cologne moving out of the bottom three with a first victory at Dortmund since 1991.
Tunisian midfielder Ellyes Skhiri grabbed both goals from corners as Cologne ended an 18-game winless streak.
Elsewhere, Union Berlin drew 3-3 with Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg drew 1-1 at Augsburg, and bottom club Schalke extended their winless run to 25 games after being crushed 4-1 at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
After a silence was observed for the late Argentine legend Diego Maradona, Bayern, in their busy Champions League period, made a sluggish start which was exploited by Stuttgart.
Silas Wamangituka raced down the right and crossed for Coulibaly's 20th minute goal.
But Stuttgart paid the price for missed chances when Coman levelled, though the hosts had an immediate reply disallowed for a clear foul on keeper Manuel Neuer.
Lewandowski's 12th goal of the season, from 20 metres, put Bayern ahead just before the break.
Stuttgart were denied a late equaliser by a save from Neuer but remain a solid 10th after Costa's first goal since his return to Bayern put the game beyond them.
"You see that Bayern are depleted, they have too many games and too little holiday," said Stuttgart's Gonzalo Castro.
"But in the end Bayern are still Bayern."
At Dortmund, the home side fell behind when Skhiri nudged over the line from a flicked on corner in the ninth minute and he scored a near identical goal on the hour.
Thorgan Hazard set up a frantic final 15 minutes but Lucien Favre's side could not find an equaliser with the usually reliable Erling Haaland missing an open goal in added time.
"We were asleep at the set pieces," Dortmund's Felix Passlack told Sky television.
"After the break, we pushed forward with everything but in the end we still were unable to get any points."
Dortmund fall to third and could drop another place if Bayer Leverkusen avoid defeat to Hertha Berlin on Sunday before Mainz end the weekend at home to Hoffenheim.
Australian Associated Press
