Borussia Monchengladbach missed the chance to close the gap on the top two as Augsburg got back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory at the SGL Arena.
It was the visitors who were gifted the opportunity to break the deadlock in just the third minute when Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker was spotted punching the ball in the box as he looked to clear a corner.
Max Kruse stepped up from 12 yards to send Alex Manninger the wrong way with a calmly-taken penalty.
Augsburg responded to the early setback impressively, and they were back on level terms when Markus Feulner finished emphatically, after Halil Altintop had miscued his own effort in the box.
Monchengladbach finished the first half strongly, but the visitors missed good opportunities either side of the break as Manninger comfortably denied Roel Brouwers and Andre Hahn.
Raul Bobadilla put Augsburg ahead just a few minutes after Hahn's miss when Alexander Esswein picked out the Argentine forward, whose powerful strike went in off the crossbar to leave Yann Sommer helpless.
Augsburg soaked up the pressure applied by Monchengladbach as the hosts produced an impressive defensive display to stifle the visiting side's creative players.
Monchengladbach's best chance fell to Thorgan Hazard late on, but the young Belgian was unable to hold his nerve in the box, as Manninger made a fine save to secure the points for the hosts.
Callum Mulvihill
