Bayer Leverkusen missed the opportunity to put pressure on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich after being held to a goalless draw by Freiburg this afternoon.
It was nevertheless an entertaining encounter at the Dreisamstadion, with both sides creating chances but neither could make the breakthrough.
The point was sufficient for Leverkusen to return to second, but Bayern can now extend their advantage at the top to 11 points when they face Stuttgart tomorrow.
Eintracht Frankfurt strengthened their grip on fourth place with a 2-1 win over Hoffenheim, who slip into the bottom two.
Frankfurt completed the double over their visitors thanks to goals from Martin Lanig and Stefan Aigner with Kevin Volland bringing Hoffenheim level in between.
Borussia Monchengladbach picked up their first three points of 2013 with a 2-1 victory against Fortuna Dusseldorf.
An own goal from Juanan and a Patrick Herrmann strike gave the Foals a two-goal lead at half-time.
A penalty from Dani Schahin gave Fortuna hope early in the second half but they were unable to find an equaliser.
Mainz further reduced Greuther Furth's dwindling hopes of playing a second season in the Bundesliga with a convincing 3-0 win at the Furth Arena.
Two goals from Adam Szalai and a Yunus Malli strike earned Thomas Tuchel's side all three points as Furth - winless at home this season - fell apart in the second half.
First-half goals from Mohammed Abdellaoue and Mame Diouf proved decisive at the Niedersachsenstadion as 10-man Hannover held on for three points with a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg.
Hannover had new signing Sebastien Pocognoli sent off in the 34th minute and were on the ropes after Alexander Madlung halved the deficit for the visitors, but the Reds held on for the win.
The match between Augsburg and Schalke finished goalless.
The 27-year-old, who had a spell on loan at Deepdale in 2011, equalised for Coventry eight minutes after Graham Cummins had fired Preston ahead in the 30th minute.
A Chris Robertson own-goal after the break then gave Coventry the lead before Nicky Wroe pounced on the hour mark to salvage a point for North End, who have not won at home in the league in 10 matches.
Robins was left bemoaning Coventry's finishing but he is adamant if Clarke, who joined the club permanently this month, performs like he did against Preston he will not be complaining any more.
"Leon is a different type of player from David McGoldrick [who was on loan at the club] but I thought he did really well and deserved his goal," said Robins.
"If he works like that he will get goals - that is what I am looking for. We have to be more clinical, the first goal we scored was a well-worked move and a decent finish.
"We were good value for three points but we didn't get them and if you let players run off you and don't defend properly from a throw in then you get disappointment.
"We did everything else right. We created an unbelievable amount of chances again for an away side and we performed well, performance-wise I am happy.
"The ball gets a headache here at Preston and we coped pretty well with what they had to throw at us.
"They scored from their first meaningful attack and in the second half they have launched the ball and we dropped too deep."
