An injury-time header from Patrik Schick helped Bayer Leverkusen to a come-from-behind 4-3 win at Stuttgart on Sunday, taking the defending Bundesliga champions to within six points of leaders Bayern Munich.
Bayern's 1-1 draw at Union Berlin on Saturday left the door slightly ajar for Leverkusen but Xabi Alonso's side looked down and out, having trailed for almost the entire match on Sunday.
"The fourth goal was a very beautiful moment for us," Alonso told DAZN, adding: "All the players, they believed – it's definitely a very important win for us."
However, the match started badly for Leverkusen, who were missing injured talisman Florian Wirtz, as they fell behind after 14 minutes.
Nick Woltemade found Jamie Leweling whose shot was blocked by Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, but Ermedin Demirovic was on hand to knock the ball in.
Woltemade doubled Stuttgart's lead three minutes into the second half, tapping in an Enzo Millot pass on the break.
Jeremie Frimpong pulled one back for Leverkusen when he tapped in a rebounded Robert Andrich shot after 56 minutes, but everything looked lost for the visitors when Granit Xhaka scored an own goal on the 62-minute mark.
Piero Hincapie pulled one back with 68 minutes gone and Victor Boniface was crucial in levelling things up on the 88-minute mark, hitting a strong shot in off the leg of Stuttgart midfielder Angelo Stiller.
As they had done so often on the way to winning their debut Bundesliga title last season, Leverkusen saw Schick come to the rescue.
The Czech striker headed in a Frimpong cross in the fourth minute of stoppage time, sending the ecstatic Leverkusen bench onto the pitch, where Alonso embraced Schick before being engulfed by a sea of black shirts.
Leverkusen, who were eliminated from the Champions League last 16 by Bayern in midweek, now have eight games to catch the Bavarian giants.
Stuttgart, who were surprise runners-up last season, sit 10th after the loss.
Leverkusen have now scored stoppage-time winners or equalisers in four of their past five games with Stuttgart.
Stuttgart striker Woltemade summed up the late loss, saying he felt terrible after a "messed-up game".
FRANKFURT BEAT BOCHUM AFTER DELAY
Eintracht Frankfurt beat Bochum 3-1, boosting their chances of a first top-four finish in the Champions League era.
Kick-off was delayed by 50 minutes as visiting Frankfurt fans refused to remove banners blocking an emergency exit.
Frankfurt took the lead 27 minutes in when Rasmus Kristensen thumped in his own rebound on the counter.
The visitors doubled their lead shortly afterwards, with Jean-Matteo Bahoya's 32nd-minute strike set up by a brilliant pass from striker Hugo Ekitike.
Gerrit Holtmann pulled one back with 73 minutes gone to give Bochum hope, but former Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi sealed the result with a stoppage-time strike, his second goal in two games since joining the Eagles in winter.
The victory kept Frankfurt fourth, three points ahead of RB Leipzig.
Frankfurt defender Robin Koch praised goalkeeper Kaua Santos.
"We need to pay a fair bit of thanks to Kaua. We're happy that we could grab the three points," he said.
Frankfurt have never qualified for the Champions League through Bundesliga placing but played in the competition in 2022-23 after winning the Europa League.
Frankfurt, who face Tottenham in this season's Europa League quarterfinals in April, had lost their previous three league matches.
Bochum were impressive despite the defeat, giving hope that they may beat the drop under coach Dieter Hecking.
Hecking took over in November with Bochum having accumulated just one point all season. Since then, Bochum have won 19 points and have beaten giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Heidenheim boosted their slim chances of avoiding the drop with a 3-1 home win over Holstein Kiel, leapfrogging their opponents to move off the bottom of the table.
Heidenheim's goals came through Marvin Pieringer, Budu Zivzivadze and Sirlord Conteh, while Kiel's strike came through Phil Harres.
