With Elfsborg beating second-placed Djurgarden as part of a three-game winning run, this match was always going to be a test for Sirius, whose lead at the top had been cut to seven points the day before by Djurgarden beating Brommapojkarna.
And so it proved, as Elfsborg had already had the better chances when they took the lead after 20 minutes, as Julius Beck swept Ari Sigurpalsson's cutback in off the post from the edge of the area.
And 1-0 was how it stayed until 20 minutes left, when Marcus Lindberg drilled in a low cross from the right and Joakim Persson emerged from the crowd to turn it home. Three minutes later, and the same duo had Sirius in front, as Lindberg played a through pass to Persson, who got past his man and leathered the ball high into the net from a tight angle.
But three minutes from time, the visitors drew level, as Nicklas Hult sent a low ball to Leo Ostman at the near post, and he shaped his body well to turn the ball past the goalkeeper. That goal ended Sirius' four-game winning run, as their lead lowered from 10 to eight points across the weekend.
Hammarby bounced back from derby day defeat to Djurgarden by beating bottom-of-the-table Halmstad to move nine points behind Sirius and keep their title dreams alive - but only by the skin of their teeth, as they scored the winner in the first minute of added time. Nahir Besara's speculative shot was spilled by goalkeeper Tim Ronning, and Noah Persson followed in to score a crucial third of the season. Halmstad remain six points from safety after successive defeats.
Despite drawing with the leaders, wins for Hammarby and Hacken meant Elfsborg dropped to fifth and lost ground in the race for Europe. It's three league wins in a row and five unbeaten for fourth-placed Hacken, after Adrian Svanback headed in Mikkel Rygaard's corner early in the second half, as Malmo slip to seventh having lost two of their last three.
Bouncing back from defeat last time and going above Malmo into sixth were Vasteras, who heaped more pressure on champions Mjallby thanks to a 20th-minute winner, as they sliced through the heart of the away defence before Axel Taonsa set himself and buried the ball in the bottom corner. Mjallby stay 12th, four points from safety, but with the two sides directly below them - Degerfors and Kalmar - meeting on Monday night.
Orgryte boosted their survival hopes with a first win in nine, beating GAIS in a Gothenburg derby - a third defeat in four for the Mackerels. Benjamin Laturnus' cross was headed in by Liam Andersson to put OIS ahead, but the visitors hit back before the break with a header of their own, Anes Cardaklija knocked in Robin Wendin Thomasson's corner.
Early in the second half, the ball dropped kindly for Wendin Thomasson to power into the top corner from 25 yards, but the GAIS lead only lasted until the hour mark, when Owen Parker-Price was upended in the area, and Tobias Sana slotted the penalty home.
In the final 20 minutes, Orgryte scored twice in four minutes to earn a first league win since 2nd August. Michael Parker held off his man well to cross low for Viktor Ekblom to score, then a clever through ball from Parker-Price sent Ekblom through, and he guided his second around the stranded goalkeeper.
Orgryte stay 15th but are now just two points from guaranteed safety, though the Degerfors vs Kalmar clash doesn't help them either. GAIS remain in 10th place.