Shinji Kagawa struck twice as Borussia Dortmund defeated Hoffenheim 3-1 on Saturday to extend its unbeaten run to 13 matches and stay level on points with Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich.
Sebastian Kehl pounced on a misplaced pass by midfielder Sebastian Rudy and slipped the ball to Kagawa to dribble through and open the scoring after 16 minutes.
Kagawa then had a hand in the second in the 31st minute, winning the ball nicely and linking well with Jakub Blaszczykowski, who squared for Kevin Grosskreutz to poke home.
Grosskreutz back-heeled for Kagawa to grab the third 10 minutes into the second half before Fabian Johnson replied eight minutes later for the visitors.
"I came into the match determined to score today so it is nice to get two goals," Kagawa said of his fifth and sixth goals of the season.
"We had a bunch of chances in the first half and the ball would not go in for us so I am really pleased that I was able to score when I did."