Djurgården's team captain Magnus Eriksson received the ball in his own half, looked up, saw a deep-running Gustav Wikheim and placed a perfect lyre for the Norwegian who, however coolly, scored the 1-0 goal at the Tele2 Arena.
Before the half was over, the 29-year-old had doubled his goal tally, and the home team's lead.
In a similar way, he went deep and this time it was Emmanuel Banda who found his way with a well-balanced pass.
- It is wonderful.
I get two good passes from Magnus (Eriksson) and (Emmanuel) Banda and then I use the speed and get two goals.
Magnus' passing was of the highest class, said Wikheim during the halftime break in Discovery+.
Kalmar woke up towards the end
He wasn't done there either.
Shortly after the half-time break, Wikheim floated through the Kalmar defense and found Joel Asoro, who alone with the goalkeeper rolled in 3-0.
Then and there it felt clear.
But Kalmar would wake up.
Filip Sachpekidis reduced the score in the 77th minute and with two minutes left of regular time, Isak Bjerkebo headed in the 2-3 goal.
The final minutes, and the long stoppage time of nine minutes, became nerve-wracking for the home team.
The visitors came close to getting a golden opportunity when the mighty Lars Sætra went wide but he missed the header.
European games await next
Djurgården was able to hold off and take over the series lead from Häcken, at least temporarily as the Gothenburgers have one less game played.
Kalmar remains in seventh place.
For Djurgården, a home match against Cypriot APOEL awaits in the qualifiers for the Europa Conference League on Wednesday.
Kalmar will face Gothenburg at home next Monday.