Hammarby's defeat to GAIS the day before left the door open for Elfsborg to go a point clear of the Stockholm side and become the nearest challenger to leaders Sirius. That scenario was very much on the cards just seven minutes in as the Boras side took the lead.
Julius Magnusson's shot struck the inside of the post and bounced out to Simon Hedlund on the right side of the area. He took his time before squaring the ball to Leo Ostman, whose effort towards the near post squrimed past the goalkeeper.
Mjallby created a couple of efforts at goal before the break through Jesper Gustavsson and Teo Helge, but nothing to really trouble Isak Pettersson in the home goal. The visitors only had one more shot on target in the second half, but that was all they needed to restore parity.
Following excellent build-up play down the left side, Ludwig Thorell squared the ball along the edge of the area to Jeppe Kjaer, who drilled in his second league goal of the season.
Elfsborg remain fourth on 16 points, below Hacken on goal difference, while MAIF are fifth, two points further back.
Find all the latest Allsvenskan results, stats and standings on Flashscore.
