Having lost narrowly to SJK with 10 men and to early pacesetters Ilves away from home, HJK were expected to get off the mark back at the Bolt Arena against city neighbours Gnistan, who had also begun with consecutive losses.
That expectation refused to waver in a first half which the home side dominated, but only one of their eight shots heading on target suggested a lack of cutting edge.
Dreadful weather conditions continued to deteriorate in the second half, which Gnistan seemed to cope the better with. Having already forced Thijmen Nijhuis into a couple of saves, the visitors were awarded a penalty just before the hour mark, for Daniel O'Shaughnessy's push on Vertti Hanninen.
Joakim Latonen stepped up and sent Nijhuis the wrong way to give Gnistan the lead.
Teemu Pukki had a handful of attempts for HJK late on, but he nor his teammates could find an equaliser, meaning only goal difference is keeping Toni Korkeakunnas' side off the bottom of the table, while Pukki is yet to score a league goal since his return.
For Gnistan, it was one of the most famous nights in their history - having already beaten HJK in the Liiga Cup this year, this win was their first ever in the Veikkausliiga against their big neighbours.
A shock was on the cards early on in Seinajoki, too, before league leaders SJK turned things around to beat AC Oulu, 3-1.
The visitors survived a barrage of early chances before taking the lead against the run of play in fine style. Niklas Jokelainen won the ball back high up the pitch, allowing Otto Kemppainen to curl the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area.
However, SJK were not phased, and found an equaliser just four minutes later. Babacar Fati was forced out wide by goalkeeper William Eskelinen, but the full-back got to the byline and his pull back deflected off Eskelinen and into the net before he could claw it away.
Two goals in 12 second-half minutes sealed the win for SJK, and Eskelinen againfailed to cover himself in glory with the first of those, spilling a Momodou Bojang shot at the feet of Kasper Paananen, who tapped it into the unguarded net.
Midway through the second half, Markus Arsalo tried his luck from 20 yards out, and his strike took a huge deflection to take it away from the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.
It's four wins from four now for the Kerho, while Oulu's inferior goal difference means it's they who are keeping HJK off the foot of the table.
KuPS are still breathing down SJK's necks as they moved onto 10 points from four matches played with a 4-1 win at home to Mariehamn.
The opening goal came in the 37th minute, when the visitors failed to clear their lines and the ball ricocheted to Otto Ruoppi, who guided the ball home with a cool finish.
A second shortly before half-time looked to have put the game beyond Mariehamn. It came courtesy of Petteri Pennanen, who took aim from well outside the area and his strike flew past Matias Riikonen.
But the Aland islanders found a route back into the match inside the final 20 minutes, when Muhamed Olawale met Jiri Nissinen's cross and guided a header into the bottom corner.
Yet hopes of a comeback were stamped out with two goals in the final 10 minutes of the match. Joslyn Luyeye-Lutumba scored the third, sweeping home Ruoppi's square ball.
Then, the roles were reversed, as Luyeye-Lutumba laid the ball off for Ruoppi to fire from the edge of the box and make it four.
The loss leaves Mariehamn in ninth place, with three points from their opening four matches.
The Veikkausliiga continues with a full programme of fixtures this weekend.
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