RB Leipzig lost more ground on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich with a 4-3 defeat at lowly Hoffenheim on Saturday and were overtaken into second by Eintracht Frankfurt.
Equal on points with Bayern just three matchdays ago, Leipzig have since lost two and drawn one to sit eight points behind the league leaders.
Hoffenheim came from a goal down to equalise three times and took the lead with four minutes remaining in a wild debut for new manager Christian Ilzer.
Hoffenheim’s Adam Hlozek collected a brace while Tom Bischof scored a clever free-kick and Jacob Bruun Larsen was responsible for the winner in the 86th minute.
Leipzig’s efforts came through Willi Orban, Antonio Nusa and an own goal from Hoffenheim’s Stanley N’Soki.
The team from eastern Germany had only conceded five goals in the league season before Saturday’s defeat.
“We’re incredibly disappointed. We went ahead three times and lost in the end, that really hurts,” Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner told Sky.
Mario Goetze, the hero of Germany’s 2014 World Cup win, scored in his 100th Frankfurt game as his side beat Werder Bremen 1-0 to continue their impressive league form and move two points ahead of Leipzig in second.
Goetze’s 45th-minute goal, blasted in from near the penalty spot, was set up by a delicate pass from French striker Hugo Ekitike, his sixth assist of the league campaign.
A “happy and proud” Frankfurt captain Kevin Trapp said “Leipzig’s loss gave us some good momentum”.
As chants of “German champions, it can only be Frankfurt” rung out, Trapp tried to downplay expectations.
“First spot is far away but we’ll take the euphoria and self-confidence with us — it can only do us good.”
‘Special place’
Borussia Dortmund beat Freiburg 4-0 at home thanks to goals from Maximilian Beier, Felix Nmecha, Julian Brandt and Jamie Gittens, while the visitors finished with nine men.
Under fire and sitting outside the European spots coming into the match, Dortmund’s one saving grace this league campaign has been their home form, with five wins from five.
“It’s a special place here, with the fans behind you,” Brandt told Sky, with an eye on next week’s home clash with Bayern.
“That’ll be a sensational game.”
The hosts got on track early, when Beier, who scored a double for Germany’s Under-21s against France this week, opened the scoring seven minutes in.
Midfielder Nmecha, who netted for Germany’s senior side in their 1-1 draw in Hungary midweek, added a second with a superb long-range effort.
Freiburg’s hopes of a comeback were snuffed out after 63 minutes when Patrick Osterhage picked up a second yellow card for a rough tussle with Marcel Sabitzer.
From the ensuing free-kick, Dortmund’s Brandt curled the ball home and England winger Gittens bent in a fourth to seal the win.
Freiburg’s Junior Adamu received a straight red for striking Dortmund’s Waldemar Anton in stoppage time, reducing his side to nine men.
Dortmund have now won their past six against Freiburg, scoring 24 and conceding five.
Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen came from two goals down to win 5-2 at home against Heidenheim thanks to a hat-trick from Patrik Schick.
Heidenheim, who host Chelsea in the Conference League on Thursday, were two goals up within 21 minutes, with Niklas Dorsch and Mathias Honsak taking advantage of some sleepy defending.
Argentine World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios pulled one back on the half-hour mark before Schick scored three unanswered goals to wrestle back control of the match, before Granit Xhaka added a fifth.
Xhaka told Sky: “Patrik is a striker who has needed to be patient, but when you need him, he’s there.
“He doesn’t need that many chances.”
Last season’s runners-up Stuttgart scored two second-half goals through Chris Fuehrich and Justin Diehl to win 2-0 at home over bottom club Bochum, who have just two points from 11 games this season.
Elsewhere, Ridle Baku scored the only goal as Wolfsburg defeated Union Berlin 1-0 at home.