Borussia Dortmund cruised 4-1 past VFB Stuttgart as Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored twice and Bayer Leverkusen held Schalke to a 1-1 draw in Bundesliga football action.
VFL Wolfsburg played out a 0-0 draw with FC Augsburg.
After two straight defeats, Dortmund returned to winning ways to increase Stuttgart's relegation worries with the third loss in a row, reports Xinhua.
They ensured a quick start on home soil in front of 81,359 spectators as Gonzalo Castro headed home a rebound from close range after Stuttgart custodian Przemyslaw Tyton saved Henrikh Mkhitaryan's effort with three minutes into the encounter.
It was the worst possible start for the visitors, who suffered another strike in the 19th minute as Castro's back heel pass found Bundesliga top scorer Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, who chipped the ball over Tyton to double the lead with his 16th goal of the season.
Stuttgart recovered five minutes before the break as Daniel Didavi poked home Filip Kostic's square pass at the far post.
Dortmund continued with their powerful attacks, but they squandered promising opportunities. However, Dortmund were nonetheless able to make it 3-1 thanks to the assistance of Stuttgart defender Georg Niedermeier, who cleared Marco Reus' low cross into his own wrong goal at the 65th minute.
Aubameyang wrapped up his brace to extend his goal tally to 17 in the dying minutes of the game.
With the result, Dortmund cemented the second place in the standings, with an eight-point deficit to front-runners Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, Stuttgart slipped into the drop zone after suffering the 10th loss of the season.
Elsewhere, Leverkusen extended Schalke's winless run to five games, as Sascha Riether's own goal cancelled out Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting's opener. Schalke slipped to the eighth place while Leverkusen remain on the sixth place.
Third-placed Wolfsburg suffered a setback in the hunt for second-placed Dortmund they were held to a goalless draw at bottom side Augsburg. Dieter Hecking's men stay on the third place but they sit now seven points adrift of Dortmund whereas Augsburg climbed on a relegation play-off spot.
