Bayer Leverkusen held on to top spot in the Bundesliga with a goalless draw at second-placed Hamburg.
The final undefeated teams in the league played out a largely cagey match, with Leverkusen waiting for Hamburg to make a mistake and strike on the counter-attack.
Hamburg played a strong match but just could not find the final touch in front of goal as both sides remain locked on 21 points.
Schalke meanwhile moved to within two points in third place with Wer! der Bremen fourth with 18 points and Bayern Munich six points back.
Hamburg dominated the game early on though they did not have a lot of chances against the stingy Leverkusen defence.
Hamburg's 19-year-old Bundesliga debutant Tolgay Arslan had the first opening but fired wide from 18 yards after 11 minutes.
Leverkusen waited for counter-attack opportunities and nearly used one to take the lead after 32 minutes. Tranquillo Barnetta played the ball to Gonzalo Castro down the left side and his shot beat the onrushing Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost but was wide of the right-hand post.
Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia, who was already without his two first-choice strikers Paolo Guerrero and Mladen Petric, saw another forward go down injured six minutes from the break as Tolgay was substituted for 19-year-old Tunay Torun.
Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler got a minor wake-up call seven minutes after the break as Eljero Elia unleashed a blast from 23 ! yards on the left side that went wide right.
Little hap! pened un til perhaps the best chance of the game with 11 minutes left. Ze Roberto played a superb pass to Elia, who fed Torun in the box but his shot from eight yards was blocked by Castro.
Simon Rolfes' header in the 82nd minute went into the upper netting of Hamburg's goal in a rare Leverkusen venture forward.
Rost made an outstanding save five minutes from time to keep out Sami Hyypia's header following a corner and it was Rost again who was the saviour two minutes from time, denying Stefan Kiessling from 10 yards.
