Franck Ribery fired Bayern Munich back to within six points of Borussia Dortmund with a cool 83rd-minute finish in a 1-0 home win over RB Leipzig on Wednesday.
Dortmund's surprise first loss of the season at Fortuna Dusseldorf on Tuesday opened the door for the champions to reignite their title hopes and they did just that late in a largely frustrating fixture.
Peter Gulacsi brilliantly denied both Robert Lewandowski and Joshua Kimmich either side of half-time but the visitors' resistance came to an end when substitute Ribery hit home amid a penalty box scramble.
Both sides were reduced to 10 men in stoppage time - Renato Sanches receiving a second yellow for reacting to a rash challenge on Thiago Alcantara that earned Stefan Ilsanker a straight red - but Niko Kovac will care little after securing a valuable fourth successive Bundesliga victory.