Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich moved seven points clear at the top as they extended their unbeaten league run to 12 games with a 3-0 victory at Cologne.
Javi Martinez put the reigning champions ahead with his first goal of the season before compatriot Juan Bernat doubled the advantage after the break.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side were guaranteed to extend their advantage with a win at RheinEnergieStadion after second-placed RB Leipzig could only manage a 2-2 draw at Augsburg on Friday night and Franck Ribery wrapped up a convincing success in the final minute.
Third-placed Borussia Dortmund also took full advantage of Leipzig’s slip-up as they closed the gap on second to six points by thrashing Bayer Leverkusen 6-2.
Ousmane Dembele put Thomas Tuchel’s men ahead and two goals from Bundesliga top-scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, either side of Kevin Volland’s strike for the visitors, gave Dortmund control.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is choosing his words carefully as he continues to be caught up in transfer rumours.
Wendell’s perfectly-placed free kick briefly brought the away side back into the contest, but Christian Pulisic’s strike, Andre Schurrle’s penalty and an injury-time finish from Raphael Guerreiro sealed an emphatic win.
Fourth-placed Hoffenheim kept up the pressure on Dortmund with a 5-2 win against struggling Ingolstadt.
Hungarian striker Adam Szalai claimed two of Hoffenheim’s goals, with Sebastian Rudy, former Leicester forward Andrej Kramaric and Benjamin Hubner also on the scoresheet.
Second-bottom Ingolstadt briefly led at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena thanks to Almog Cohen’s strike and an own goal from Niklas Sule following Rudy’s opener.
U.S. international Fabian Johnson scored twice as Borussia Monchengladbach gave their hopes of qualifying for European football next season another boost with a 4-2 home win over Schalke.
Johnson made the breakthrough just before the half-hour, having already seen a goal ruled out for offside, but Nabil Bentaleb converted a penalty put the visitors back on terms at the break.
He got his second of the match to restore the home side’s advantage before Oscar Wendt and Raffael made it 4-1. Leon Goretzka scored a late consolation goal.
Bottom club Darmstadt lost for the 13th time in 15 league games as they went down 2-0 at Werder Bremen.
Max Kruse put Bremen ahead from the penalty spot 15 minutes from time before claiming his second in time added on.
Elsewhere, Andries Jonker’s first game in charge of Wolfsburg ended in a 1-1 draw at Mainz.
Experienced striker Mario Gomez gave Jonker’s men a 20th-minute lead, but the hosts hit back through Colombian forward Jhon Cordoba four minutes later.
