Derby winners Dortmund tighten title grip

Borussia Dortmund took another step towards retaining the Bundesliga title after coming from behind to win 2-1 at FC Schalke 04.

Having beaten FC Bayern München in midweek, Jürgen Klopp's charges faced another stern examination in the Ruhr Valley derby. Their assignment became all the more arduous when they fell behind on nine minutes, Jefferson Farfán's strike from the edge of the area deflecting in off the head of Shinji Kagawa.

However, the leaders responded within eight minutes thanks to a spectacular volley by Łukasz Piszczek and struck the winner just after the hour when Sebastian Kehl scored from close range. Dortmund are eight points clear of Bayern, whose 0-0 draw with 1. FSV Mainz 05 was their second blank in three days. 

At the other end of the table, ten-man Hertha BSC Berlin boosted their survival hopes by rallying from two goals down to draw 3-3 with sixth-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Hertha are a point behind 1. FC Köln, third from bottom, while Leverkusen lost ground on fifth-placed VfL Stuttgart, who on Friday stretched their unbeaten league sequence to nine matches with a 4-1 home win against SV Werder Bremen.

Elsewhere, Hamburger SV won 1-0 against Hannover 96, and 1. FC Nürnberg and FC Augsburg triumphed at 1. FC Kaiserslautern and VfL Wolfsburg respectively.