Borussia Dortmund kept up the pressure on Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-2 win in the 87th Revierderby against Schalke.
The match lived up to the pre-match expectations with both sides clearly keen on all three points.
Shinji Kagawa's opener was cancelled out by Klaas Jan Huntelaar, before Matthias Ginter restored Dortmund's lead before the break.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave the hosts a two-goal lead, but Huntelaar set up a grandstand finish with his and Schalke's second.
The Royal Blues could not find an equaliser, though, as they fell nine points behind their local rivals, who are now back to within five of Bayern at the Bundesliga summit.
Both sides were soon into the derby spirit with tackles flying in and fouls disrupting the flow, albeit without diminishing the entertainment value inside the Westfalenstadion.
The hosts were slightly more creative with the ball, but the first real opportunity of the game came for Schalke in the 20th minute when Dennis Aogo sent in a cross which was met by Leroy Sane, but the 19-year-old, fresh from his first call-up to the senior Germany squad, struck wide.
Kagawa set up Aubameyang for a shot which was blocked by Joel Matip, before the Japanese midfielder took aim himself with a header from Ginter's cross, beating Ralf Fahrmann to open the scoring.
Their lead did not last more than a handful of minutes, though, before Huntelaar met Sane's cross to level from close range.
The goal resulted from a defensive mistake, with Mats Hummels giving the ball away cheaply, and just like Dortmund's opener, another rearguard error allowed the hosts to go in front again just before the break.
This time Ginter found too much space to dispatch a header from six yards out from Henrikh Mkhitaryan's corner.
It was ruthless from Dortmund, who showed a deadly efficiency to add a third early in the second half with Aubameyang put through by Gonzalo Castro and finishing with aplomb, before taking off his shirt to reveal a Batman logo and a reference to his celebration against Schalke last season, when he adorned a Batman mask.
Mkhitaryan was denied soon after by Fahrmann, who kept Schalke in the game before Huntelaar made things even more interesting, chipping in Leon Goretzka's cross after Sokratis Papastathopoulos made a hash of his clearance.
The visitors threw all caution to the wind, ensuring an exciting conclusion to the derby with both sides keen on getting another goal.
Schalke wanted a penalty when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting went to ground inside the penalty area after a tangle with Ginter, but the referee was having none of it.
After four minutes' stoppage time, and added entertainment, the referee brought the derby to its conclusion with Dortmund celebrating victory over their local rivals, and cementing second place in the standings.