Leaders Bayern Munich held on for a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen despite finishing with nine men in an eventful Bundesliga clash on Saturday.
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund's comfortable home win at Augsburg drew them nine points behind reigning champions Bayern with eight games to play.
Aleix Garcia's goal gave Leverkusen the lead and Bayern striker Nicolas Jackson saw red before half-time.
Luis Diaz levelled things up but picked up a second yellow card for diving in the box.
Bayern held firm to grab a point, even as Leverkusen had two efforts chalked off in stoppage time.
Bayern also had strikes from Jonathan Tah and substitute Harry Kane ruled out by VAR for handball in a sometimes manic match at the BayArena.
Garcia finished off a fluid team move to put Leverkusen ahead six minutes in, the Spain midfielder collecting a Patrik Schick pass and chipping the ball over Bayern goalkeeper Sven Ulreich.
Former Leverkusen centre-back Tah looked to have levelled things up midway through the first half when he found the net from a corner, but VAR intervened.
JACKSON SENT OFF
Bayern's hopes took a further hit when Jackson saw red for sinking his studs into Martin Terrier's ankle just before the break.
With 30 minutes left, Bayern brought Kane on as a substitute after his recent absence with a calf knock, and the England captain thought he had scored just 47 seconds later, but again, VAR spotted a handball.
Diaz finally grabbed Bayern a leveller when he guided a pinpoint Michael Olise pass in with 69 minutes gone.
With six minutes to play, the Colombian went down in the box under light contact from Leverkusen's keeper Janis Blaswich and was shown a second yellow for diving.
Bayern dug deep despite their numerical disadvantage in the dying stages to cling on for a point.
Dortmund inched closer to Bayern with Karim Adeyemi and Luca Reggiani both getting on the scoresheet in a 2-0 home win over Augsburg.
Adeyemi gave Dortmund the lead in the 13th minute, turning in a Maximilian Beier pass from close range.
Stodgy and uninspired in beating a 10-man Cologne last week, Dortmund showed fluency in attack, but Adeyemi and Beier took turns in hitting the crossbar before the break.
Just before the hour mark, 18-year-old centre-back Reggiani headed in a Julian Ryerson corner for his first Bundesliga goal.
Elsewhere, Arnaud Kalimuendo scored as Eintracht Frankfurt beat lowly Heidenheim 1-0.
Wolfsburg's bid to beat the drop took a hit in a 1-1 draw at Hoffenheim, which left them stranded in the relegation zone.