Stefan Kiessling scored the winner as Bayer Leverkusen closed the gap on the top two with a 1-0 victory over Hoffenheim this evening.
Hesitant defending from the visitors gifted an early chance to Roberto Firmino when he latched on to a loose ball in the box, but Bernd Leno responded impressively to make a fine save.
In a first half when both sides were eager to take control, the two goalkeepers were forced into action, with Oliver Baumann getting a strong hand to Kiessling's effort.
Baumann came to the rescue again either side of the half-time interval to keep out Son Heung-min and Gonzalo Castro as Leverkusen started to find their form going forward.
Hoffenheim were forced to sit back heading into the closing stages as Leverkusen piled forward in search of the late winner.
The decisive goal arrived with 11 minutes of normal time remaining when Kiessling slid in to tap home from Julian Brandt's cross.
