Borussia Dortmund took a huge step to claiming their seventh Bundesliga title by beating Freiburg 3-0 at home and opening an eight-point lead at the top of the table with four matches to play.
Just hours after closest challengers Bayer Leverkusen lost 5-1 at Bayern Munich, Mario Gotze scored the opening goal for Dortmund in the 23rd minute and Robert Lewandowski made it 2-0 after 43 minutes. Kevin Grosskreutz finished off Freiburg for good with his strike in the 78th minute.
Dortmund extended their unbeaten streak to four games as they close in on their first league crown since the 2001/02 season. Freiburg have collected just one victory in their last seven games to remain on 41 points in eighth place - seven points from a UEFA Europa League spot.
Dortmund controlled the match from the off and their first chance was also the opening goal in the 23rd minute. Mats Hummels played a ball over the left side of the Freiburg back line to Marcel Schmelzer, who passed for Gotze to score his sixth goal of the season
The hosts nearly doubled their advantage just two minutes later as Gotze crossed for Grosskreutz and Lewandowski, who both rushed onto the ball which the latter struck over the bar from ten yards out.
Grosskreutz finishes Freiburg off
Dortmund continued pushing forward but Freiburg goalkeeper Oliver Baumann made a fine save from Jakub Blaszczykowski's low blast from 20 yards. Freiburg finally had their first chance of the game eight minutes later but Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller made a strong save to stop Cedrick Makiadi's shot.
And the Dortmund offence rewarded their goalkeeper in the 43rd minute by going 2-0 ahead. Hummels' long diagonal ball was mis-hit by Omer Toprak into the path of Lewandowski, who held off the Freiburg defender and then got past Baumann before chipping home.
Lewandowski missed a chance to double his tally but shot wide left in a one-on-one situation against Baumann in the 62nd minute. And Blaszczykowski was close six minutes later, going just wide right.
But the game was decided in the 78th minute after a perfectly-executed attack. Lewandowski beat the Freiburg offside trap with a through ball to Gotze, who crossed to Grosskreutz for an easy right-foot shot. Weidenfeller made another strong save from Stefan Reisinger in the 87th minute to keep his sheet clean.