Bayern Munich were denied a winning return to Bundesliga action after being held by Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen pinched the points at home to Hoffenheim.
Stuttgart and Borussia Monchengladbach both recorded important wins at the bottom end of the table as Freiburg drew at St Pauli and Hamburg won at Schalke.
An eventful game at Wolfsburg saw reigning champions Bayern fail to make significant inroads into Borussia Dortmund's lead at the top following a 1-1 draw.
Mario Gomez hit the bar for Bayern after just five minutes and, two minutes later, the visitors were in front through Thomas Muller.
The lead should have been doubled on 21 minutes, but Philipp Lahm struck the post with his penalty after Danijel Pranjic had been fouled.
Wolfsburg's Ashkan Dejagah then hit the bar and the first half ended with home striker Grafite seeing his spot-kick saved.
With time running out, Steve McClaren's side snatched a point when Sascha Riether forced the ball home from close range with four minutes to go.
Torsten Frings scored a dramatic injury-time winner as Werder Bremen pulled away from trouble thanks to a 2-1 home triumph over Hoffenheim.
Sebastian Prodl hit the bar early on for Bremen before Claudio Pizarro broke the deadlock on 36 minutes and then struck the post before half-time.
Boris Vukcevic's 87th minute goal appeared likely to give Hoffenheim a point until Frings netted in the second minute of stoppage-time.
Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a potential farewell goal as Hamburg battled to a 1-0 success at Schalke.
The veteran Dutch striker has been linked with a return to Real Madrid and he settled Saturday's game by scoring on 53 minutes.
Substitute Martin Harnik was Stuttgart's hero as his 79th minute goal earned the strugglers a vital 1-0 win at home to high-flying Mainz.
Borussia Monchengladbach claimed just a third win of the season as Roman Neustadter's eighth minute goal clinched a 1-0 success at Nurnberg.
However, the hosts wasted a golden chance to nick a point when Javier Pinola's 86th minute penalty was saved.
Papiss Demba Cisse grabbed a brace, and could have had a hat-trick, as Freiburg twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at lowly St Pauli.
Freiburg striker Cisse had a spot-kick saved after 11 minutes and, two minutes later, St Pauli took the lead through Marius Ebbers.
Cisse atoned for his earlier miss by equalising on 61 minutes only for Gerald Asamoah to restore St Pauli's lead on 68 minutes, just two minutes after coming on as a substitute.
However, Freiburg would not be denied and Cisse scored his second of the afternoon 15 minutes from time to earn the visitors a point.
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