After taking an early lead through Johannes Wurtz, VfL Bochum were forced to settle for a point in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Dynamo Dresden.
Aias Aosman and Stefan Kutschke provided a quick turnaround, although Peniel Mlapa rescued a point with an 85th minute equaliser.
Team news
Uwe Neuhaus made just one alteration from Dynamo's hard-fought 2-1 win over Greuther Fürth last time out as Niklas Hauptmann came in for Andreas Lambertz.
As for Gertjan Verbeek and Bochum, more changes were required as injuries and the cold struck down players at will. Gökhan Gül made his debut, with Arvydas Novikovas and Nico Rieble as in the starting XI following the 1-1 draw with Eintracht Braunschweig. Felix Bastians, Nils Quaschner and Timo Perthel all missed out.
Dynamo turn things around to lead
The game began in dramatic fashion, as Dynamo had a goal disallowed within six minutes. Akaki Gogia's effort was, wrongly, chalked off after the ball had allegedly went out.
Bochum then went on the front foot and after Tim Hoogland's first header was deflected over at the near post, but the hosts didn't learn their lesson. A short corner was met again by Hoogland, whose header to the back post was perfect for Wurtz to run onto and slam into the net from just a matter of yards out.
However, that joy wouldn't last long and Dresden were soon back on top and level. Gogia was the main man on the day for Neuhaus' men and didn't disappoint with a telling cross toward the front post. Kutschke got an important touch and Aosman didn't make a mistake when tasked with a half volley from 12 yards out.
Things went from bad to worse just eight minutes later, as a fatal mistake from Novikovas saw him dispossessed and Erich Berko slid Kutschke in on goal. The striker struck low and hard, and Manuel Riemann may have felt he could have done better but it trickled over the line to the delight of the home fans.
Mlapa earns a deserved point
The second half picked up where the first left off as Manuel Riemann was called upon immediately to pull off a superb reaction stop from Aosman's point blank half volley. Aosman then curled over from 25 yards after a fine piece of skill, and another sly turn put him through on goal but to fire agonisingly wide from close range.
Berko headed a corner against the post just moments later in what was proving to be a superb attacking performance, while they remained comfortable at the back.
The game then turned, as the proverbial switch flicked the opposite way and Peniel Mlapa's first real moment of the match saw him strike Marvin Schwäbe flush in the face with a volley. That was the first moment the Ruhrpott club had threatened in the second half, and Wurtz angled a shot narrowly over from the edge of the box.
Yet Bochum were not done and that dogged spirit that saw them draw with the league leaders last week ensured they would bring a point away from the biggest club in East Germany. A great cross from substitute, Jan Gyamerah picked out Mlapa in the middle and he stole ahead of his markers to crash home from close range.