The top three sides - Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and FC Schalke all won their matches in the Bundesliga.
On Sunday, Schalke moved to within three points of the top with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Cologne at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen.
Goals from Joel Matip and Jefferson Farfan secured the win as the Royal Blues prepare for a run of winnable fixtures that could decide their fate in the title chase with games against Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund, Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich on the horizon.
At the other end of the table Freiburg's relegations fears increased as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at mid-table Eintracht Frankfurt.
Papis Demba Cisse put the visitors ahead but Benjamin Kohler levelled in the 40th minute before Halil Altintop struck in the final minute to give the home side all three points.
In Saturday's early kick-off Leverkusen were made to sweat against Wolfsburg at the BayArena.
Stefan Reinartz put the home team ahead in the 48th minute before an own goal from the luckless Andre Lenz doubled their advantage in the 68th minute.
A goal from Edin Dzeko 10 minutes from time had Leverkusen panicking but they managed to hold on to the 2-1 win.
That meant Bayern knew only victory against Borussia Dortmund in the late clash would be good enough for them to keep pace.
They suffered an early setback when Mohamed Zidan put the fifth-placed visitors ahead after only five minutes but Mark van Bommel levelled midway through the half.
And they wrapped up the 3-1 win thanks to goals from Arjen Robben (50) and Mario Gomez (65) in the second half.
One more goal would have drawn Bayern level on goal difference.
Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his first goals for Hamburg to lift his new club to a 3-1 away win over in-form Stuttgart.
The veteran Holland international striker joined the north Germany club from Real Madrid last month and, in only his second appearance, proved his quality as he stepped off the bench to score a match-winning double.
Marcus Berg had opened the scoring for the visitors after 23 minutes before Christian Trasch equalised 10 minutes after half-time.
Van Nistelrooy, who was given a brief debut in Hamburg's 3-3 draw with Cologne last week, was introduced in the 65th minute and 10 minutes later he was on target to open his account before firing in a second two minutes after that to ensure the win.
Hertha Berlin saw their winless sequence extended to four games as Friedhelm Funkel's underperforming troops were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home to Mainz.
Funkel's tenure at the capital club has come under increasing scrutiny, with the coach having now presided over one win in 15 since taking charge in October, and today's point leaves Hertha still marooned at the foot of the Bundesliga, seven points from safety.
Aristide Bance fired Mainz into the lead after 37 minutes but it was all one-way traffic from that point on as Hertha poured forward and they were eventually rewarded when Gustavo Ramos nodded the equaliser in the second period.
Bochum bought themselves some breathing space above the drop zone as Zlatko Dedic's late header earned them a 2-1 victory over Hoffenheim.
Having been pegged back when Vedad Ibisevic volleyed the visitors level in the 65th minute to cancel out Stanislav Sestak's first-half opener, Bochum got the winner with 14 minutes left to move six points clear of trouble.
Hoffenheim's push for an equaliser was effectively ended four minutes from time when Luis Gustavo Diaz was shown a straight red card by referee Marco Fritz for a reckless knee-high tackle on Lewis Holtby.
Werder Bremen romped to a third successive win as the pressure mounted on new Hannover boss Mirko Slomka.
Goals from Peter Niemeyer, Naldo, Aaron Hunt and Claudio Pizarro, plus an own goal by Leon Andreasen, heaped misery on relegation-threatened Hannover as they slumped to a fourth defeat in a row since Slomka took over.
Christian Schulz netted for Hannover but they were already four down by that stage and it was little consolation in a 5-1 defeat.
On Friday, Nurnberg's relegation fears intensified as Borussia Monchengladbach posted a workmanlike 2-1 victory.
Match Reports
Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Wolfsburg
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