Narrow defeats to AC Oulu and Inter Turku had seen KuPS drop from first to third, while a defeat at home to Trabzonspor in the UEFA Conference League in midweek hardly helped their preparations for taking on a VPS side who had recently ended a run of three successive defeats.
But if anyone was showing signs of pressure, it was VPS, who conceded a penalty in the first 10 minutes when Lassana Mane upended Bob Armah, and Jaime Moreno made no mistake with the spot-kick.
Moreno and Armah were causing the visitors problems later in the first half as well, as the Nicaraguan won possession in the VPS half before Armah took control and dribbled to the edge of the box, where he played a one-two with Moreno before guiding the ball home.
In the second half, Wilson Samake missed the chance to get the Vaasa side back in the game while Joslyn Luyeye-Lutumba wasn't able to added a final flourish for KuPS, but the champions did enough to close the gap on the leaders to a point, despite staying third behind HJK on goal difference. VPS are sixth, three points behind Gnistan in the final European place.