Bayern Munich saw off 10-man RB Leipzig 3-0 on Wednesday night to go three points clear atop the Bundesliga table ahead of the league's winter break.
Thiago Alcantara got the hosts off to a perfect start against the newly promoted co-league leaders, sweeping home from close range to give Bayern a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.
Xabi Alonso doubled the advantage eight minutes later, with goalscorer Thiago now the provider for the Spaniard, before Emil Forsberg was shown a straight red card for a foul on Philipp Lahm to reduce the visitors to 10 players.
And Robert Lewandowski made it 3-0 just before the break from the penalty spot after Peter Gulacsi fouled Douglas Costa in the area.
The hosts had no problem maintaining their three-goal advantage throughout the second half against their undermanned opponents.
Rhine rivals Cologne and Bayer Leverkusen shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at the Mungersdorferstadion.
Cologne took the lead in the 21st minute when Anthony Modeste scored his 13th goal of the season with a fine first-time strike into the far corner.
It was a little harsh on Leverkusen, who had looked the more dangerous, so Wendell's equaliser just before half-time was more than deserved for Roger Schmidt's men.
There were no further goals in a rather subdued second half with Cologne happy to hold onto a draw which keeps them four points ahead of their local rivals.
Hertha Berlin moved up to third with a 2-0 win over Darmstadt, who end the calendar year four points adrift at the bottom of the table.
Marvin Plattenhardt and Salomon Kalou scored the goals for Pal Dardai's men, who bounced back from defeat to Leipzig at the weekend by inflicting a ninth straight loss on Darmstadt.
After a poignant remembrance for the victims of the Christmas market tragedy in the German capital, impeccably observed by fans holding candles and lights, the game commenced in the Olympiastadion with Hertha immediately taking charge.
Hoffenheim made it through to the end of the year unbeaten, but they were pegged back by Werder Bremen for a 1-1 draw in Sinsheim..
Sandro Wagner gave Hoffenheim the lead in the 26th minute when he lost his marker to meet a cross just in front of Jaroslav Drobny and score his 19th goal of 2016, making him the most prolific German goalscorer in the calendar year.
Another prolific German denied them all three points, though, with Serge Gnabry scoring his seventh goal of the season to earn the northern Germany side a point in the 87th minute.
The draw takes them three points clear of the bottom three while unbeaten Hoffenheim are two points off the top three.
Florian Niederlechner's double helped Freiburg climbe to eighth in the Bundesliga with a 2-1 win which ended Ingolstadt's recent revival.
Freiburg went in front from the penalty spot with Niederlechner converting after Vincenzo Grifo had been fouled inside the area.
Niederlechner added a second before half-time, latching on to Janik Haberer's header to double Freiburg's lead.
Ingolstadt pulled one back in the 53rd minute through a Markus Suttner free kick, but they were unable to find an equaliser as they succumbed to defeat after back-to-back wins.