Bayer Leverkusen remained the closest challengers to Bayern Munich at the Bundesliga summit after Stefan Kiessling's first-half goal secured a 1-0 win against Nurnberg on Saturday afternoon.
Kiessling scored the only goal of the match in the 37th minute as Leverkusen picked up their fourth win in a row - and sixth in their last seven games - to move onto 30 points.
Nurnberg, who had picked up points in four of their last five matches, remained in the lower echelons on 16 points.
Schalke's dismal recent form continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Borussia Monchengladbach.
Igor de Camargo put the Foals in front and Schalke were only able to snatch a point late on thanks to a goal from Julian Draxler.
However, the result leaves them still a point behind third-place Borussia Dortmund, five adrift of Bayer Leverkusen and still 12 behind league leaders Bayern Munich.
Schalke had picked up just a single point from their last three games to slip from second to fourth.
Ten-man Mainz moved into the top six of the Bundesliga, dislodging opponents Hannover with a spirited 2-1 win at the Coface Arena.
Thomas Tuchel's men took the lead through Nicolai Muller early on, but Hannover levelled before half time through Christian Schulz.
The home team were reduced to 10 men just after the interval when goalkeeper Christian Wetklo was given his marching orders, but they still managed to find a winner in the 89th minute through Adam Szalai.
Augsburg moved off the bottom of the Bundesliga table on Saturday afternoon after a goalless draw against Freiburg.
The promoted side took the lead in the ninth minute through Tobias Werner, only for Jonathan Schmid to equalise in the 28th minute for ninth-placed Freiburg.
However, despite extending their winless streak to eight matches, the draw was enough to lift Augsburg up a position to 17th on eight points following Greuther Furth's 1-0 loss at home to Stuttgart.
Ten-man Stuttgart's good form continued with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Greuther Furth thanks to Shinji Okazaki's goal just before the break.
The Japanese international was first to the rebound after Vedad Ibisevic's penalty was blocked by the Furth keeper Wolfgang Hesl.
Stuttgart were reduced to 10 men in the 53rd minute as Serdar Tasci saw red.
The win means Stuttgart have collected three wins in their last four games to move to 22 points.
Furth meanwhile prop up the table and have yet to win at home this season in the Bundesliga.
Fortuna Dusseldorf continued their recent revival with a thumping win over 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday.
The visitors struggled after the first-half dismissal of Karim Matmour, with Stefan Reisinger and Oliver Fink putting Dusseldorf ahead by the break and Rafael and Axel Bellinghausen adding further goals in the second period.
The result sees Norbert Meier's side extended their unbeaten run to three games, while Frankfurt have now lost two in a row and taken just five points from seven games.
