Werder Bremen and Stuttgart played out an incredible nine-goal thriller as Bayern Munich extended their lead at the summit.
Gomez strikes a hat-trick; Bayern extend lead
Werder Bremen and Stuttgart played out an incredible nine-goal thriller as Bayern Munich extended their lead at the summit.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg brushed aside Energie Cottbus, Schalke won at Arminia Bielefeld, while there were draws in Frankfurt's game with Bochum and Duisburg's clash against Hansa Rostock.
Werder slipped seven points behind leaders Bayern as they succumbed to a 6-3 defeat against
Stuttgart at Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion.
Hugo Almeida handed the away side the lead on eight minutes, but Werder's joy was unfounded as Mario Gomez (20 and 43) hit a brace before half-time to put Stuttgart in front.
Sebastian Boenisch then levelled in the 60th minute, however Gomez completed his hat-trick (66) and then Cacau handed his side a two-goal lead (67).
The goals kept on coming, and Markus Rosenburg struck on 76 minutes before Boenisch (84) hit into his own net and Cacua (88) got his second to make it 6-3.
Werder's misery was then compounded when Per Mertesacker received his marching orders in the dying seconds.
Bayern are now unbeaten in 10 league games as they secured a comfortable 2-0 triumph against
Karlsruhe.
Luca Toni (41) and Franck Ribery (64) both netted for the home side as Ottmar Hitzfeld's men close in on reclaiming their Bundesliga title.
Energie Cottbus dropped to the foot of the table as they were beaten 3-0 by
Wolfsburg.
Christian Gentner got the ball rolling for the home side on 17 minutes, Marcel Marcelinho then fired in a brace (20) to seal the success.
Schalke ended a run of three consecutive league losses, running out 2-0 victors at
Arminia Bielefeld - who are now without a win in six fixtures.
Gustavo Varela (24) and Halil Altintop (74) were on target as Mirko Slomka's side climbed to fifth in the table.
Bochum were unable to make it four wins on the spin as Marcel Koller's men were forced to come from a goal behind against
Frankfurt.
Faton Toski opened the scoring on 49 minutes, but Shinji Ono (65) levelled to ensure both sides claimed a point apiece.
Duisburg moved off the bottom of the table with their point against
Hansa Rostock.
Ivica Gril (7) handed the Bundesliga strugglers the lead, but his effort was cancelled out on 20 minutes by Victor Agali.
Arminia Bielefeld 0 Schalke 2
Bayern Munich 2 Karlsruhe 0
Duisburg 1 Hansa Rostock 1
Frankfurt 6 Bochum 3
Stuttgart 6 Werder Bremen 3
Wolfsburg 3 Energie Cottbus 0
