Borussia Dortmund edged ever closer to a successful defence of their Bundesliga crown with a 2-1 win at the home of their bitter local rivals Schalke.
Jefferson Farfan put the home side in front in the ninth minute, but Lukasz Piszczek levelled for Dortmund just eight minutes later.
Sebastian Kehl sealed Dortmund's win in the 63rd minute as they opened up a nine-point advantage at the top of the Bundesliga with three games remaining, although second-placed Bayern Munich could still reduce their lead to six points with a win over Mainz.
Sven Bender almost gave Dortmund a dream start, but he was denied by Lars Unnerstall with only 30 seconds on the clock.
It was a prelude to an open game full of chances at both ends with Schalke's Kyriakos Papadopoulos heading inches wide from a corner in the fourth minute.
Another corner led to the opening goal for Schalke in the ninth minute.
The Dortmund defence failed to clear their lines and Farfan picked up the ball on the edge of the area and his shot flew through a group of players, taking a deflection off the head of Shinji Kagawa to beat the outstretched arm of Roman Weidenfeller.
Five minutes later, a long punt forwards found Robert Lewandowski but he pulled his shot wide of the far post with only Unnerstall to beat.
Dortmund levelled in the 17th minute, with Schalke this time failing to clear a corner.
Piszczek picked up the ball just inside the penalty area and scored with a volley on the turn into the far corner from a tight angle.
Both sides took a bit of a breather up until the break, but normal service was resumed in the second half with Klaas Jan Huntelaar volleying over the crossbar when unmarked at the far post in the 54th minute.
Dortmund took the lead in the 63rd minute, thanks to an error by their former player Christoph Metzelder.
The Schalke defender unwittingly teed up Kehl to score from close range after yet another corner led to a goal.
Schalke's heads dropped and they were unable to summon the energy or the invention to break down a now defensive Dortmund side, who held on to three points to move within touching distance of the title.
