Halfway through the Swedish football league season, the surprise package Sirius was in record form, unbeaten and a clear league leader with 41 points from 15 games.
The last month has been even tougher.
It started with a 2-2 draw at home against Brommapojkarna, just a few days before Robbie Ure left Sirius for Sevilla. The Uppsala club received SEK 100 million in its account, but became poorer in terms of goalscorers.
The results since then: 3-4 against Mjällby (despite an early 3-0 lead), followed by 0-3 against Häcken and 0-1 against Malmö FF, despite being at home in both matches.
Hunted by Stockholm team
Ahead of Saturday's away match against Västerås SK, Sirius' lead at the top of the table had shrunk to six points and the chasing teams - especially Hammarby and Djurgården - had been given a golden opportunity.
There was no clear gold rush among the blue and blacks when the “Aros derby” kicked off in Västerås, but on the other hand, Sirius did not look like a potential title team either. The first 45 minutes go down as one of the Allsvenskan halves we would rather forget.
We are a little too careless and don't get as much established play as we want, Sirius captain Henrik Rönnlöf Castegren said to TV4 Play during the break.
At that point, Sirius had just played its sixth straight half without scoring a goal in the Swedish league.
There wasn't a seventh.
Signed from PSV
The second half was just over five minutes old when Jesper Uneken rose highest and neatly headed in the 1-0 goal, which was celebrated wildly in front of the large Sirius support. The 22-year-old Dutchman was signed from PSV Eindhoven's U21 team in the summer as a replacement for Robbie Ure, and the first goal could not have come at a more timely moment.
All the more inopportune was the loud shot heard from the VSK stands later in the half, which led to both teams being called to the dressing rooms. The interruption lasted no longer than 20 minutes, after match organisers demanded that some in the stands remove their masks.
Sirius held on and led the Allsvenskan by nine points. At least until second-placed Hammarby met Örgryte on Sunday. It continues to do so with Isak Bjerkebo in the squad, who remained with the team despite numerous transfer rumours.
"It's been tough. But it's nice to move on. I was pretty set on moving, but now, in retrospect, this was probably the best thing that could have happened to me," says Bjerkebo.
- Sirius, 20 games, 45 points.
Next match: Degerfors at home (Monday, September 14).
- Hammarby, 19 matches, 36 points.
Next match: Örgryte away (Sunday).
- Djurgården, 19 matches, 35 points.
Next match: Kalmar FF away (Monday).
- Häcken, 20 games, 32 points.
Next match: Mjällby at home (Friday).
- Elfsborg, 19 matches, 31 points.
Next match: Brommapojkarna away (Sunday).
- AIK, 18 matches, 31 points.
Next match: Malmö FF away (Monday).
