Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen remained six points behind leaders Bayern Munich thanks to a 1-0 stoppage-time win at lowly Heidenheim on Saturday.
Bayern had extended their lead to nine points after a 3-1 win against Augsburg on Friday evening.
After a shock elimination from the German Cup in a 2-1 defeat to third-division Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday, Leverkusen were on the verge of another setback, but Emiliano Buendia's goal in the first minute of stoppage time secured them the crucial three points.
Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, moved up to eighth and are two points away from the Conference League spot after thrashing Freiburg 4-1.
Karim Adeyemi gave Dortmund a deserved lead in the 34th and Carney Chukwuemeka, Serhou Guirassy and Jamie Gittens completed the win in the second half. Maximilian Eggestein pulled one back for Freiburg in the 88th.
RB Leipzig defeated 10-man Hoffenheim 3-1 to give coach Zsolt Löw a win in his Bundesliga debut. Löw started his interim job at Leipzig with a 3-1 loss to VfB Stuttgart in the German Cup on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Ermedin Demirovic scored a hat-trick in Stuttgart's 4-0 thrashing of Bochum, while Mainz fought back for a draw against bottom side Holstein Kiel. Later on Saturday, Eintracht Frankfurt visit Werder Bremen.
