Bayer Leverkusen kept pace by beating Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 in the late game on Saturday (Sunday AEDT), when Florian Wirtz starred again with two goals and set up Patrik Schick for the third.
Goretzka fell out of favour at Bayern last season but reminded the club's bosses of his qualities by scoring twice for the first time since March.
Bayern started well, with Leroy Sane striking the crossbar, then Harry Kane forcing a save from Kamil Grabara in the Wolfsburg goal.
But it took Goretzka to open the scoring in the 20th minute after surging through the middle of the field before firing inside the far post.
Goretzka's second goal in the 62nd minute - coming after Michael Olise's goal in the 39th - proved to be the winner after Mohammed Amoura scored twice for Wolfsburg.
The Algeria forward's second goal in the 88th minute set up a nervy finale, but Bayern held on for their fourth successive win.
Leverkusen's bosses needed no reminders about Wirtz's quality - the young Germany star played an integral role in Xabi Alonso's team's unbeaten run to the championship last season, and he's doing it again for their title defence.
Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz has starred again with two goals against Monchengladbach. (AP PHOTO)
"We don't need to talk about his qualities," Gladbach captain Julian Weigl said. "He played another top game today. We didn't manage to stop him."
Wirtz played the ball through Gladbach defender Ko Itakura's legs before shooting the opener in the 32nd minute, converted a penalty in the 62nd, then gave Schick an easy finish to seal the result in the 74th.
Tim Kleindienst scored Gladbach's consolation in stoppage time.
It was Leverkusen's 11th straight win across all competitions. The Bundesliga champions next visit Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.
"We want to keep the run going, to win as many games as possible," Wirtz said.
Leipzig squandered a three-goal lead at last-placed Bochum as Dutch forward Myron Boadu scored a 13-minute second-half hat-trick for the home team.
Bochum's Myron Boadu (right) scores from the penalty spot on his way to a hat-trick. (AP PHOTO)
"I'm very happy. I've never experienced fans like this before," said Boadu, who is on loan at Bochum from French side Monaco.
"You want to do everything you can to give them a good weekend and a good week. You can never write off Bochum."
Bochum remained on the bottom, but they have claimed all but one of their 10 points since the experienced Dieter Hecking was appointed coach in November, and can potentially overtake Holstein Kiel next weekend.
Stuttgart capitalised on Leipzig's draw with a 4-0 rout of Freiburg to overtake Leipzig and move to fourth, the last place for Champions League qualification.
It was Stuttgart's third successive win to start the year, including Wednesday's defeat of Leipzig, now a point behind Stuttgart in fifth.
Also, St Pauli defeated relegation rivals Heidenheim 2-0 away, and Hoffenheim won 3-1 at Holstein Kiel.
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