Borussia Dortmund squandered a three-goal lead and drew with Hoffenheim 3-3 at home to give Bayern Munich a chance to close in on the Bundesliga leader on Saturday.
Jadon Sancho starred for Dortmund in the absence of injured captain Marco Reus, but instead of opening a 10-point gap ahead of Bayern's home game against Schalke later, they allowed Hoffenheim to come back. Dortmund dropped points for the second successive game.
Dortmund, who drew at Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend, were missing coach Lucien Favre due to illness, and with Reus also out due to a muscular injury picked up in the German Cup exit to Werder Bremen on Tuesday, there were fears of a tough game against old rival Hoffenheim, which is fighting for European qualification.
But those fears seemed misguided with Sancho sparkling, particularly in the first half.
The 18-year-old English forward had an early goal ruled out by the video referee but opened his account with a fine finish from a narrow angle in the 32nd.
Sancho was denied a second by a fine save from Oliver Baumann but Mario Goetze prodded home the rebound before the break.
Sancho was also involved in Dortmund's third, setting up Goetze with his heel before Goetze pulled the ball back for Raphael Guerreiro to seemingly seal the win in the 67th minute.
Hoffenheim didn't give up, however.
Sancho struck the post before Ishak Belfodil scored for the visitors in the 75th. Eight minutes later, Pavel Kaderabek grabbed another. Belfodil equalized with his second goal in the 87th.
Dortmund, who squandered a four-goal lead in a dramatic 4-4 draw with Schalke last season, next visit Tottenham in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Second-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach lost at home to Hertha Berlin 3-0.
Also, Hannover defeated 10-man Nuremberg 2-0 in a bottom-of-the-table match, Frankfurt drew at Leipzig 0-0, and Freiburg drew with Wolfsburg 3-3.
