Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim both extended their unbeaten starts to the season to 10 games as they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena.
Kerem Demirbay gave a confident Hoffenheim the lead in the 16th minute, but a Steven Zuber own goal brought the hosts level before half-time.
Bayern hit the post twice in a stronger second-half showing from the record champions, but Hoffenheim held on for a valuable point.
Borussia Dortmund heaped more misery on struggling Hamburg with a 5-2 win that saw Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang return from a club-imposed suspension emphatically with four goals.
It took him only three minutes to make his mark on the game, turning in one of his easiest goals of the season after Rene Adler had only parried Emre Mor's effort. He doubled Dortmund's lead midway through the first half when he benefited once again from Mor's pass -- this time an intentional assist -- to score another easy goal as Adler was taken out of the equation by the Turkish midfielder's pass.
Aubameyang completed his hat trick four minutes later and his fourth followed soon after half-time, with Christian Pulisic this time the provider after some more poor defending in the Hamburg rearguard was punished ruthlessly.
Nicolai Muller gave Hamburg something to smile about, ending a 717-minute scoring drought for the northern Germany side with a goal which reduced the deficit to three.
Aubameyang turned provider to tee up Ousmane Dembele to restore Dortmund's four-goal lead with 15 minutes left.
Bayer Leverkusen made it two Bundesliga wins in a row, although they were made to sweat for a 3-2 victory over struggling Darmstadt.
Hakan Calhanoglu gave Leverkusen a deserved lead in the 32nd minute but the visitors levelled early in the second half with Antonio Colak volleying in Marcel Heller's cross.
Julian Brandt headed Leverkusen back in front 10 minutes into the second half before Charles Aranguiz gave Roger Schmidt's men a two-goal advantage with a powerful shot into the top right-hand corner.
Mario Vrancic made things interesting with Darmstadt's second goal five minutes from time, but Leverkusen held on to edge closer to the top six.
Wolfsburg picked up their first win in the Bundesliga since August to move out of the bottom three as they beat Freiburg 3-0.
Mario Gomez headed in Ricardo Rodriguez's cross before the break and the Germany international added his second in the 53rd minute, providing a cool finish in a one-on-one situation.
Rodriguez made sure of the points with a penalty in the 86th minute, helping Wolfsburg pick up their first win since the opening day of the campaign.
Eintracht Frankfurt closed the gap on sixth-placed Cologne with a 1-0 win at the Waldstadion.
Mijat Gacinovic scored the only goal of the game after just five minutes, with the Eagles closer to adding a second than the Goats were to scoring an equaliser.
Two late goals earned Augsburg a 2-0 victory in a Bavarian derby against Ingolstadt, who ended the game with 10 men and still without a win all season.