Borussia Dortmund kept alive their fading hopes of wrestling the Bundesliga title from Bayern Munich's grasp after a second-half goal from Emre Can gave them a 1-0 home win over Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
The result left Dortmund second on 63 points with four rounds of games remaining, seven behind champions Bayern who moved a step closer to securing their eighth successive title with a 4-2 win at Bayer Leverkusen earlier in the day.
Prior to kick-off at Signal Iduna Park, both teams went down on one knee in the centre circle to pay tribute to George Floyd, an unarmed black American whose death in Minneapolis while being arrested by police last month has triggered protests around the world.
Dortmund players warmed up in T-shirts with messages including "no peace, no justice" and "united together".
Bayern players had worn Black Lives Matter armbands in their win over Leverkusen and before the match they warmed up in T-shirts saying "Reds Against Racism".
The first half in Dortmund was played almost at walking pace and produced two chances for the home side, as Thorgan Hazard sliced his shot from seven metres before Julian Brandt fired wide from 18 metres.
England forward Jadon Sancho, who scored a hat-trick in last week's 6-1 win at Paderborn, endured a poor afternoon and was guilty of an astonishing miss in the 51st minute, when he side-footed the ball wide from five metres.
With Dortmund dominating, Can finally broke the deadlock in the 58th when he drove the ball into the bottom left corner from the edge of the penalty area after Sancho headed a Hazard cross into the midfielder's stride.
Sancho squandered another gilt-edged chance in the 90th minute, allowing Hertha keeper Rune Jarstein to block his shot from two metres out.
Captain Christian Strohdiek netted a dramatic stoppage time equaliser to hand last-placed Paderborn a 1-1 draw away at high-flying RB Leipzig.
Patrik Schick’s 27th minute goal saw Leipzig lead, but their fortunes turned after defender Dayot Upamecano was needlessly sent off two minutes from the end of the first half when he petulantly kicked away the ball after a foul.
The 21-year-old Frenchman had been booked earlier in the game, and his second yellow card ensured an early shower.
The result left Leipzig in third place, 11 points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich with four games remaining, while Paderborn moved to 20 points, still five adrift at the bottom.
A goal in each half by Rouwen Hennings gave Fortuna Duesseldorf a 2-2 draw at home to 10-man Hoffenheim.
But Uwe Rosler's side, who are third from bottom, will see it as two points dropped rather than one gained.
Munas Dabbur equalised in the 16th minute, while Hennings had a second headed goal ruled out two minutes later after VAR spotted a foul in the build-up.
Steven Zuber put Hoffenheim ahead around the hour mark, but Hennings netted a penalty to secure the draw and leave his side third from bottom on 28 points, three behind Mainz.
Hoffenheim climbed to sixth and into the Europa League places on 43 points.
Mainz scored once in each half to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 and move three points above the relegation play-off spot.
The visitors went ahead two minutes from halftime thanks to Moussa Niakhate's first goal of the season, and Eintracht, who are unlikely now to qualify for Europe, rarely threatened.
The hosts, who have now won only once in their last six games, upped the tempo after the break but still failed to register a shot on target in the entire game.
Kunde Malong's solo run after winning possession in midfield killed off the game in the 77th minute and gave Mainz a crucial victory in their battle to stay up. Malong also paid tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement when he took a knee after scoring.
Mainz are 15th in the table on 31 points with Frankfurt 11th on 35.
