Borussia Dortmund extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga after outmuscling Ruhr rivals Schalke 2-1 away on Saturday, with Bayern Munich also notching up a win to move second.
Jadon Sancho grabbed a superb winner on 74 minutes to put unbeaten Dortmund on 36 points from 14 games, nine ahead of Bayern who overcame struggling Nuremberg 3-0 at home thanks to Robert Lewandowski's double.
Third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach could yet leap back into second spot and cut Dortmund's advantage back to seven points if they win their Sunday home clash with VfB Stuttgart.
In Saturday's other early results, Freiburg beat RB Leipzig 3-0 at home, Wolfsburg drew 2-2 with visitors Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen won 1-0 at home to Augsburg after Lucas Alario's lucky finish.
The Ruhr derby had a very different feel to last term when Schalke ended up finishing second and Dortmund limped home in fourth. This term Dortmund are blazing a trail at the top of the standings while the Royal Blues are languishing in the bottom half.
Dortmund handed a start to "super sub" Paco Alcacer, who has scored nine of his 10 league goals from the bench this term. Mario Goetze made way but the Spain striker failed to shine from the off.
Schalke also had problems up front with Breel Embolo, Mark Uth and Franco Di Santo all ruled out.
With the Arena AufSchalke roof closed due to inclement weather, the atmosphere was especially electric but Dortmund quickly gained the upper hand.
Achraf Hakimi blasted over with a half chance early on before Denmark midfielder Thomas Delaney, one of the close-season signings who have helped turn Dortmund into title contenders, expertly headed in a Marco Reus free-kick on 7 minutes.
Schalke, unbeaten in their previous five league meetings with Dortmund, fought back through Daniel Caligiuri's penalty on the hour after Reus got in a tangle with Amine Harit and the video assistant intervened.
But Dortmund had the last laugh with England winger Sancho being allowed to dance into the area and fashion a fine finish before Raphael Guerreiro almost scored a third when he hit the post.
Bayern coasted to victory at home to third-bottom Nuremberg, who have now shipped a league high 33 goals so far.
Their defence and goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow were badly exposed by Lewandowski being able to head in Joshua Kimmich's corner almost unchallenged.
The Poland striker doubled the lead on 27 minutes when he tapped in after Leon Goretzka's clever effort came back off the bar. Franck Ribery got the third after more hapless defending.
The win further eases the pressure on Bayern coach Niko Kovac, who has now won two in the league on the bounce following a run of three without a win.
Nils Petersen became Freiburg's joint top Bundesliga scorer on 37 goals along with Papiss Cisse after netting in the first half of their win over fourth-placed Leipzig.
Luca Waldschmidt added a second from the spot on the stroke of half-time after help from the video assistant and Mike Frantz later made it three with a good header.
In a topsy turvy clash in Wolfsburg, Ishak Belfodil put Hoffenheim ahead with a superb controlled volley from Andrej Kramaric's cross after just 4 minutes.
But the Wolves stormed back thanks to Ermin Bicakcic's own goal and Daniel Ginczek's goal on the half hour. Hoffenheim though levelled through Kramaric on 71 minutes following another video review.
Eintracht Frankfurt can move third with maximum points at Hertha Berlin in Saturday's late game.
Werder Bremen beat bottom side Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-1 on Friday. Second bottom Hanover visit Mainz on Sunday.
