Schalke 04 twice bounced back from a goal down to snatch a 2-2 draw against rivals Borussia Dortmund in their 100th Ruhr valley derby in the Bundesliga on Saturday to end their opponents' eight league game winning run.
Dortmund, who suffered a Champions League last-16 exit to Chelsea this week, are on 50 points in second place, with Bayern Munich on 52 following their 5-3 win over Augsburg earlier.
Schalke are in 17th place but their spirited performance confirmed their improving form as they stretched their unbeaten run to seven consecutive league matches.
Both sides missed golden chances to score in the first half but the hosts went in front after 38 minutes with Nico Schlotterbeck given far too much space outside the box and drilling in from 18 metres.
Schalke bounced back five minutes after the restart with a Marius Buelter tap-in but Raphael Guerreiro restored order for Dortmund spectacularly rifling into the top corner for a renewed lead on the hour mark.
The Royal Blues, however, did not give up and levelled for the second time with Kenan Karaman's powerful header in the 79th.
