The Damallsvenksan kicked off with the majority of the matches in round nine all being played on Wednesday.
As has been the theme for much of this season, FC Rosengård and Linköping FC continued to set the pace at the top of the table, but it was at the other end of the table from which produced the round's biggest news.
Kristianstad shock Kvarnsveden, Mallbacken upset Eskilstuna
In what was seen as a routine away win against one of the league's worst teams, Kvarnsveden could only watch as Kristianstad ripped up the form books to grab a very welcome first three points of the season with a two-nil win over the visitors. Nellie Karlsson started off the scoring with a goal in the fourteenth minute before Ida Guehai doubled the lead for Kristianstad in the thirty-first minute. The home side then set out their stall in the second half and along with some dogged defending, registered their first win of the season.
Kristianstad now find themselves two points away from safety and this win could prove to be the catalyst the team has been looking for all season.
The other upset of the round saw Mallbacken suprise many with a 2-1 win over third-placed Eskilstuna United. Mallbacken raced to a two-nil lead in the first half thanks to goals by Zoe Ness and Julia Karlenas before Vaila Barsely pulled one back for Eskilstuna in the eighty-night minute. With this result Mallbacken creates a little more daylight between themselves and the relegation zone while Eskilstuna still find themselves in third albeait some distance away from the top two.
Linköping leads the way, Rosengård stays close by
At the top of the table, Linköping FC made a statement of their intentions to stay as league leaders with a eight-nil demolishing of Vittsjö GIK. Damallsvenkan's top goal scorer Pernilee Harder found herself on the scoresheet twice while second on the goal-scoring charts Stina Blackstenius found herself with a hat-trick on the day. Kristine Minde and Magdalena Ericsson provided the rest of the goals for the home side.
FC Rosengård stayed in hot pursuit of Linköping as they completed a solid four-nil win away at bottom-placed Umeå IK. Former US international Ella Masar continued her fine form this season and opened up the scoring while Marta and Lieke Martens, with the brace, also found themselves on the scoresheet. Rosengård's win leaves them level on points and goal difference with Linköping so the race for the title remains as tight as ever.
Mid-table remains jam-packed
The rest of the matches in this round saw very little movement in the teams all below the top two. None of the teams currently finding themselves in the middle of the pack could take advantage of Eskilstuna's stumble at Mallbacken so the league positions did not change that much.
In the battle between fourth and fifth, Göteborg FC left it late to defeat Djurgårdens IF by one goal to nil. Paulien Hammerlund got the only goal of the game in the seventy-ninth minute, and Djurgårdens could not find a way to tie up the game.
The other match of the round saw KIF Örebro and Piteå grind out a nil-nil draw. Neither team will be happy with just a point but this does leave Örebro a few more points away from the relegation zone as they battle to stay in the Damallsvenskan.