Arturo Vidal's sole goal helped Bayern Munich to edge resilient Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 while runners-up Leipzig shared the spoils with Mainz following a 2-2 tie in the 15th round action of the Bundesliga.
The German record champions on Saturday recorded their second consecutive win in the league and cemented their top spot in the standings after beating Frankfurt on Vidal's first-half goal, reports Xinhua news agency.
Frankfurt ensured a bright start on home soil as Ante Rebic forced Bayern substitute goalkeeper Tom Starke to make a save with seven minutes played.
Despite Frankfurt's good start, it was Bayern who opened the scoring out of the blue. Joshua Kimmich's pinpoint cross to the far post found Chilean midfielder Vidal, whose header broke the deadlock with 20 minutes into the game.
The Bavarians should have doubled their lead but neither Kingsley Coman nor Vidal were able to make the most of their promising chances. Meanwhile, Frankfurt's Rebic and Jetro Williams missed the chance to restore parity.
After the restart, Frankfurt remained on the front foot but were still unable to crave out a draw in front of home crowd as Niklas Suele denied Sebastien Heller a golden opportunity.
With the victory, Bayern Munich established an eight-point advantage atop the standings to secure the autumn championship whereas Frankfurt slipped to the 7th position.
Runners-up Leipzig suffered a setback as they lost ground to Bayern after playing out a 2-2 draw against Mainz.
Leipzig assumed control from the kick off and pressed Mainz into the defence.
As the match progressed, Leipzig implemented their fast-paced style of play. The opened the scoring with 29 minutes when Kevin Kampl made use of Diego Demme's square pass to curl the ball from 13 metres into the top left corner.
Mainz remained unimpressed and responded 10 minutes later through Robin Quaison, who capitalised on a rebound from Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi to poke home the equaliser.
However, it was a short-lived joy for the visitors as Leipzig took the lead again in the 45th minute after Timo Werner made no mistake to convert a penalty.
Mainz regrouped and fought back again as substitute Emil Berggreen shocked the hosts with the 2-2 leveller in the closing period.
With the draw, Mainz avoided their third loss in a row and stay on the 14th place while runners-up Leipzig sit on the 2nd place.
Elsewhere, Dortmund's negative run continues as they suffered the fifth loss of the season after a 1-2 defeat to bottom side Werder Bremen.
Wolfsburg shared the spoils with Hamburg following goalless 90 minutes and Schalke hijacked one point from Monchengladbach after a 1-1 stalemate.
--IANS
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