Bayern Munich once again asserted their authority over the rest of the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin, who dropped from fourth to fifth in the standings on Saturday.
Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman supplied the goals for Pep Guardiola's men, who could secure top spot at the midway stage of the season with three games to spare should Borussia Dortmund fail to beat Stuttgart on Sunday.
Having booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League in midweek, they were even able to take things easy in picking up their 13th win in 14 Bundesliga matches this season, their other game resulting in a draw.
Hertha dropped one position thanks to Borussia Monchengladbach battled back to claim a 3-3 draw at Hoffenheim after a brace from U.S. international Fabian Johnson.
Gladbach extended their unbeaten streak to nine games, but it looked like that record was about to end, as Hoffenheim netted three goals unanswered after Johnson's opener.
Josip Drmic and Johnson again ensured that Andre Schubert's men came away from Hoffenheim with a point, however, leaving Huub Stevens' men rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga with just nine points.
That leaves them four points adrift of safety, a position currently occupied by Werder Bremen after their 3-1 defeat at home to Hamburg in the Northern Germany derby.
Ivo Ilicevic, Michael Gregoritsch and Nicolai Muller scored the goals which took Bruno Labbadia's Hamburg into the top six at least for a night, while Anthony Ujah's goal was not enough to save Bremen from defeat and may be too little to save Viktor Skripnik's job too.
Hannover took advantage of Bremen's defeat, with a 4-0 win over Ingolstadt giving them some breathing space at the bottom of the table.
Marcelo, Leon Andreasen, Kenan Karaman and Uffe Bech inflicted the heaviest defeat in the Bundesliga on Ingolstadt, who slipped to 11th as a result.
In Saturday's other game, Mainz beat local rivals Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in a game that was delayed due to increased security measures.
Yoshinori Muto and Yunus Malli scored either side of Frankfurt player Alexander Meier's dismissal, while Haris Seferovic pulled one back.