Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich went 50 games unbeaten as they saw off Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 on Saturday.
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Bayern completed half a century of league games without defeat with victory over the only remaining league side they have not beaten yet this season; Bundesliga top-scorer Mario Mandzukic headed them in front just before the break with Bastian Schweinsteiger sealing victory shortly after the interval.
Stefan Kiessling nodded in a consolation in stoppage time to make the final score 2-1.
Bayern now have a 23-point advantage at the top of the table and could wrap up the title quicker than anybody ever before with a win at Mainz next weekend.
Borussia Monchengladbach picked up their first win of 2014 as they completed a league double over Borussia Dortmund with a 2-1 win at the Westfalenstadion.
The visitors weathered a storm before Raffael put them in front and Max Kruse added a second for Lucien Favre's men before the interval.
Havard Nordtveit was sent off midway through the second half and Milos Jojic reduced the arrears with 13 minutes to go, but Dortmund were unable to find an equaliser as they lost to Gladbach for the second time this season.
Werder Bremen and Stuttgart split the spoils in a 1-1 draw at the Weserstadion in a result that both teams can be pleased with.
Georg Niedermeier gave Stuttgart the lead after 55 minutes before Aaron Hunt scored the equaliser for the home side in the 79th minute. Bremen increased their unbeaten run to five matches to improve to 29 points, while Stuttgart and new coach Huub Stevens picked up their second-straight draw after an eight-match losing streak, moving up to 21 points.
Hannover celebrated victory on the road for only the second time this season as they recorded a 3-0 victory at Hertha Berlin to ease their relegation worries.
Lars Stindl, Jan Schlaudraff and Szabolcs Huszti were all on target in the second half for Tayfun Korkut's men, who open up a nine-point gap over the bottom three ahead of Sunday's fixtures.
Berlin can practically wave goodbye to their chances of playing in Europe next season after a crushing home defeat.
Bottom-placed Eintracht Braunschweig earned a valuable point in their fight against relegation by holding Wolfsburg to a 1-1 draw.
Luiz Gustavo put the Wolves ahead after 36 minutes, but Karim Bellarabi salvaged a point for the hosts three minutes after the interval.
The result was Braunschweig's third straight draw and kept them three points adrift of fourth-bottom Stuttgart and extended Wolfsburg's winless run to three games.
Mainz fought back from a two-goal deficit to beat Hoffenheim 4-2 to continue their hopes of Champions League qualification.
Roberto Firmino and Eugen Polanski had put Hoffenheim ahead, but Maxim Choupo-Moting, Benedikt Saller and a Shinji Okazaki brace sealed the points for Mainz.