Borussia Moenchengladbach kept the pressure on the Bundesliga leaders thanks to a 3-0 triumph at Stuttgart on Sunday.
Mike Hanke put the visitors ahead at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion when he headed home a free-kick from Marco Reus just after the half-hour mark.
That was where the scoreline stayed until the 81st minute, when Reus latched onto a through ball from Patrick Herrmann before lashing a shot past Sven Ulreich in the Stuttgart goal.
Herrmann turned provider again three minutes later when he set up Igor de Camargo for the third to cap off a dominant performance from Lucien Favre's side.
The win moves fourth-placed Moenchengladbach to 39 points, just one behind leaders Bayern Munich, defending champions Borussia Dortmund and Schalke.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Mainz climbed to 12th place courtesy of a 3-1 home win over bottom side Freiburg.
Mainz had effectively wrapped up the contest inside the opening 17 minutes, scoring three goals, with Freiburg having defender Fallou Diagne sent off for bringing down Adam Szalai inside the box.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting fired Mainz ahead in the third minute after collecting a neat ball from Eugen Polanski, who scored the second on six minutes from the penalty spot following Diagne's indiscretion.
Choupo-Moting made it 3-0 after 17 minutes, and although Pavel Krmas netted a second-half consolation for the visitors, Mainz held on for a comfortable win.