Harry Kane scored his third straight Bundesliga brace as Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 to move eight points clear of chasers Borussia Dortmund, who drew 2-2 at RB Leipzig on Saturday.
Bayern played before chasers Dortmund and Kane’s double helped the league leaders grab control of the match and run out to a 3-0 lead before mistakes let Frankfurt score two late goals.
Dortmund needed to beat Leipzig to keep pressure on Bayern, who visit the Westfalenstadion next week, but were down 2-0 at half-time after a Christoph Baumgartner double for Leipzig.
Dortmund forced Romulo into an own goal to cut the lead and former Wolves striker Fabio Silva scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to snatch a draw.
Despite the late point, the result deals Dortmund’s slim title hopes a blow ahead of Bayern’s visit next Saturday.
In Munich, Aleksandar Pavlovic’s low strike gave Bayern the lead and Kane added goals either side of half-time, before giving away a penalty converted by Germany forward Jonathan Burkardt with 13 minutes remaining.
Bayern captain Joshua Kimmich gifted Frankfurt’s Arnaud Kalimuendo a late goal with a poor pass but the hosts held on.
“With the game, I was satisfied until the 75th minute,” said Jamal Musiala, who made his first Bundesliga start since May.
“We need to learn from that. We can’t have moments like that.”
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany put a positive spin on matters despite the late hiccup, saying “it shows character to see the game through”.
Kane has now scored more than one goal in a match 13 times this season in all competitions.
The England captain has netted 28 goals in 23 Bundesliga appearances and 43 in total this campaign.
The biggest disappointment for Bayern was a second-half injury to wing-back Alphonso Davies, who only returned after an eight-month absence with an ACL injury in January.
The Canada captain clutched his ankle and pulled his jersey over his face, with Kompany saying Davies will miss “two to four weeks”.
Dortmund had lost their last five matches in Leipzig and were on the back foot early when Yan Diomande carved through some heavy-legged defenders and found Baumgartner, who tapped home.
The Austrian midfielder added a second in similar fashion shortly before the break, with Leipzig captain David Raum this time the provider from the left.
Dortmund halved Leipzig’s lead five minutes after half-time when a low-flying Julian Ryerson corner rebounded to home striker Romulo, who tried to avoid the ball but headed into his own net.
Karim Adeyemi broke through on the counter and found Silva to level things up in stoppage time. Julian Brandt had a late chance in the dying moments but shot straight at Leipzig goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt.
Dismissing title-race questions, Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said his side could not afford to lose focus ahead of a crucial week.
“Munich are coming next week,” he said. “We’re off to Bergamo (in the Champions League) in between. I’m looking at what’s coming, not what may happen in the distant future.”
Bayer Leverkusen’s top-four hopes took a hit with a 1-0 defeat at Union Berlin, days after an impressive Champions League win at Olympiacos.
Home captain Rani Khedira overpowered former Union midfielder Robert Andrich to pounce on a loose ball and hammer home in the 28th minute.
The defeat leaves Leverkusen in sixth, three points behind fourth-placed Stuttgart.
Elsewhere, third-placed Hoffenheim dropped points for just the second time in eight matches in a 2-2 draw at Cologne.
Cologne took the lead thanks to an incredible bicycle kick from Ragnar Ache but Hoffenheim hit back either side of the break to take the lead thanks to goals from Ozan Kabak and Andrej Kramaric.
Teenage winger Said El Mala put Cologne level with an excellent solo goal on 63 minutes and the hosts held on to grab a valuable point against the in-form visitors.
Augsburg were behind twice but won 3-2 at Wolfsburg, with Elvis Rexhbecaj scoring in stoppage time to lift the visitors nine points clear of the relegation play-off place.
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