Borussia Dortmund bounced back from their 6-0 defeat to Bayern Munich and narrowed the gap on second-placed Schalke with Christian Pulisic and Michy Batshuayi impressing in a comfortable 3-0 win over VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
Dortmund had both Christian Pulisic and Marco Reus back in their starting XI, but the early action was concentrated at the other end of the field, where Stuttgart attacked with insistence - and no intimidation - towards the Yellow Wall. Erik Thommy tried his luck a few times but he, like Mario Gomez with a header, could not test Roman Bürki between the posts. Dortmund were counterattacking on their own patch, but one proved productive as Pulisic's cross looped past Ron Robert Zieler and nestled in the far corner, earning an effective Dortmund the half-time edge.
It was the hosts' turn to attack towards their own fans in the second half and it appeared to give them a boost of inspiration, with Michy Batshuayi starting and finishing the move which led to their second within 120 seconds. A fine no-look touch sent Nuri Sahin through and the Turkish midfielder returned the favour for the on-loan Chelsea forward to side-foot in. Dortmund turned the screw on the hour mark with Maximilian Philipp taking a second bite of the cherry to beat Zieler following neat work from Pulisic, while the USMNT almost got a second, Zieler diverting his shot behind. Batshuayi and Pulisic continued to run the show as the Westphalians gave the perfect response to last weekend's defeat at Bayern to edge closer to a place in next season's UEFA Champions League.
Serge Gnabry equaliser rescues Hoffenheim a point against high flyers Eintracht Frankfurt
Serge Gnabry's fifth goal in his last five Bundesliga games helped Hoffenheim leave the Commerzbank Arena with a valuable point after Luka Jovic had earlier given Eintracht Frankfurt a second-half lead.
Hoping to reel in the hosts, who began the day with a slim three-point lead over their opponents, Julian Nagelsmann's side went sniffing for chances early on and were almost gifted the perfect opening when Lukas Hradecky sent a clearance against Mark Uth before the goalkeeper gathered in relief. With both sides largely cancelling each other out thereafter, opportunities to create openings were few and far between.
The packed crowd at the Commerzbank Arena were treated to a significant increase in the action in an entertaining second half. Uth spurned the chance to pick out a teammate in front of goal when well positioned to do so and would rue that decision soon after with Eintracht taking the lead. Making his first start of the season following a back injury, Marco Fabian laid on a pass for Marius Wolf who in turn picked out Jovic for an easy finish. The visitors quickly rallied, however, and were level when a long kick-out by Oliver Baumann was met but Uth's flicked assist to Gnabry who powered forward before firing home. Both teams pushed for a winner thereafter but settled for a share of the spoils that keeps their respective European hopes alive and well.