Hammarby began the day in second but only two points clear of fourth-placed Hacken, while Djurgarden in third were waiting for either to slip up ahead of their match 24 hours later.
But despite their proximity in the table, there was a gulf between them on the pitch - the hosts took the lead with just under half an hour played when a deep corner to the far post was diverted back across goal by Victor Lind for Waylon Renecke to nod in his first goal since moving from Esbjerg.
Less than 10 minutes later, Bajen were 2-0 up following an intricate move down the right, resulting in Montader Madjed playing in a low cross which goalkeeper David Andersson could only parry straight to Lind, who tucked it home.
And the tie was all but over early in the second half, when Frank Adjei poked the ball through to Paulos Abraham, who fired straight at Andersson, but again the goalkeeper could not get it safe, and Abraham followed in well to score his ninth league goal of the campaign.
Hammarby are now unbeaten in six in the league since Hacken beat them in the reverse fixture at the end of May, and since then, Getingarna have won just one of their six fixtures.
After five defeats in a row and 11 games without a win, Degerfors have finally tasted victory for the first time since 23rd April, causing a real upset away at Malmo, who have now lost two of their last three.
If Degerfors needed any indication that today would be their day, it arrived in the 18th minute, when Nahom Girmai broke up play midway inside his own half, ricocheting the ball to Dijan Vukojevic. The striker got his head up, took aim from inside his own half and sent a beautiful strike over the head of the backtracking Robin Olsen to score from over 60 yards out.
That wonder-strike looked to have been cancelled out early in the second half when a Sead Haksabanovic shot was saved by Matvei Igonen, but Diego Garcia was on hand to tuck away the rebound to draw Malmo level.
However, Vukojevic wasn't done there - 20 minutes from time, MFF got caught in possession, allowing Samba Diatara to drive to the byline and send the ball across for the striker to tap in a goal from quite a bit closer in than his first!
Late on, Andrej Djuric headed the ball past Olsen and into his own net, but a comical own goal was ruled out for offside, sparing the centre-back's blushes. However, defeat for Malmo sees them ____, while Degerfors go above Orgryte into the relegation play-off place on goal difference.
Goteborg's improved form since the summer break continued as they beat Kalmar and climbed to 10th, going a point and a place ahead of today's opponents. It's three wins in four now for Joachim Bjorklund's side, but just one win in five for Kalmar.
It was Kalmar who took the lead early on, when Nassef Chourak's cross was nodded back across goal by Abdussalam Magashy for Charlie Rosenqvist to tuck into the bottom corner, but the home side hit back soon after, as Tobias Heintz's corner bobbled through the six-yard box to the alert David Kruse.
Blavitt thought they had gone in front before the break only for Kolbeinn Thordarsson's strike to be ruled out for handball, but after the break, the officials sided with them when Chourak brought down Tiago Coimbra inside the box. Sam Larsson had just enough on his shot to beat Samuel Brolin from the penalty spot.
Into the final 10 minutes, Goteborg sealed the win when Larsson found Alfons Boren on the left, and he cut into the area and curled a wonderful low shot into the bottom corner. A determined Charles Sagoe Jr pulled one back with a low drive, but it was no more than a consolation for Kalmar.
Halmstad remain rock bottom with one win all season after GAIS ended a run of two without a victory. Yet the first half was dominated by the hosts, as only a combination of great goalkeeping and last-ditch defending early on that prevented the hosts from going ahead.
But Halmstad were made to rue their lack of cutting edge in the 65th minute, when GAIS took the lead they had been threatening. The ball was worked down the left to Matteo de Brienne at the byline, and he squared for Samuel Salter to tap in at the near post.
Just over 10 minutes later, Salter made it a brace for himself, getting his head on the end of an August Wangberg cross to put the match beyond doubt. The Mackerels are up to seventh in the table, while Halmstad are 10 points from guaranteed safety.