RB Leipzig's Dominik Szoboszlai scored in each half to secure a 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart on Friday that lifted his side to second place and within a point of leaders Bayern Munich.
Marco Rose's Leipzig, who have now won six of their last seven league matches and have lost just once since he took over in September, are on 35 points behind Bayern, who host fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Hungary international Szoboszlai opened his account in the 25th minute, drilling in a free kick from 30 metres, with the ball bouncing in front of Stuttgart goalkeeper Florian Muller.
He scored again four minutes after the restart, picking up the ball at the edge of the box and rifling in a crisp shot.
Leipzig, unbeaten against Stuttgart in their 10 Bundesliga matches, should have scored again with Andre Silva hitting the woodwork in the first half and wasting another golden chance just past the hour when his close-range header missed the mark.
Instead it was relegation-threatened Stuttgart who pulled one back with a Chris Fuehrich penalty in the 68th, but despite late pressure they could not find an equaliser that would have moved them up from 15th place.