Late Thomas Muller goal earns Bayern win at Stuttgart

The champions, whose keeper Sven Ulreich saved a stoppage-time penalty, were again far from effective and looked somewhat surprised by the level of resistance offered by Stuttgart.

But their opponents gradually ran out of steam after the hour and Bayern started creating more chances through Corentin Tolisso and Kingsley Coman.

Frenchman Coman then found Muller in the box and the striker fired in from a tight corner to beat Ron-Robert Zieler in the 79th minute. Bayern then survived the late penalty scare with Ulreich denying the hosts.

The win lifted Bayern to 41 points, with second-placed Schalke 04 rescuing a last-gasp 2-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt to move onto 30.

"I cannot understand how Stuttgart don't have more points," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes told reporters. "It was an intense and dramatic game. My players now will need to clear their heads to face Dortmund next week."

RB Leipzig, third on 28 can overtake Schalke on Sunday, when they take on Hertha Berlin.

Dortmund's Pulisic picked up a Shinji Kagawa cross and passed from one foot to the other, before volleying in the winner to lift his team back into third place on 28.

Hoffenheim had taken the lead with Mark Uth but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's penalty in the 63rd minute had drawn Dortmund level.

Bottom club Cologne beat VfL Wolfsburg 1-0, celebrating their first win of the season, while lowly Werder Bremen squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against relegation rivals Mainz 05.