Dennis Grote's beautiful curling effort gave the hosts a shock lead in the 11th minute,

Franck Ribery equalised 10 minutes before half-time, and Schweinsteiger finally grabbed the winner after 78 minutes.

With Karlsruhe, Bayern's closest challengers at the start of play on Saturday, not playing until Sunday, wins for Werder Bremen and Hamburg lifted them into second and third respectively.

All five goals came in the second half as Bremen beat Hertha Berlin 3-2.

Hugo Almeida opened the scoring as late as the 58th minute, only to see Gilberto equalise four minutes later.

Parity lasted less than a minute, though, as substitute Markus Rosenberg scored Bremen's second.

After 74 minutes, Leon Andreasen gave Bremen a two-goal cushion, which was to prove vital when Solomon Okoronkwo pulled one back in stoppage time.

A hat-trick from Ivica Olic fired Hamburg to a 4-1 win over Stuttgart.

The hosts made light of the absence of playmaker Rafael van der Vaart as Olic completed his treble in the first 35 minutes.

Stuttgart lost Pavel Pardo to a red card just before the interval and found themselves four down in the 59th minute through Joris Mathijsen, before Serdar Tasci netted a consolation in the 73rd minute.

The result leaves struggling Stuttgart just a point above the bottom three.

Schalke were held to a 1-1 draw at Hansa Rostock.

Gerald Asamoah's powerful strike put the visitors ahead just past the half-hour mark before Marek Stein's lob brought Hansa level 11 minutes after the break.

FC Nurnberg responded to coach Hans Meyer's pre-match rallying call in style as they thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1.

They fell behind in the 11th minute through Naohiro Takahara, before Angelos Charisteas equalised nine minutes later.

Goals from Marek Mintal (two), Zvjezdan Misimovic (penalty) and Joshua Kennedy ensured a comfortable second half for the hosts.

In the day's other game, Mladen Petric twice gave Borussia Dortmund the lead at neighbours Bayer Leverkusen, but equalisers from Theofanis Gekas and Stefan Kiessling ensured things ended all square.

On Friday night, Energie Cottbus could not lift themselves from the bottom of the Bundesliga after slumping to a 2-1 home defeat against fellow strugglers Duisburg.