Going into this group campaign, Shamrock Rovers readily accepted that the concession of soft, sloppy goals was their Achilles heel in Europe.
But as the adventure came to its conclusion here in Stockholm, they were reminded that scoring goals on their travels is just as much of a conundrum.
Djurgardens deserved to win but had Rovers more of a cutting edge about them, they could have shared the spoils and secure a third UEFA cheque for €166,000.
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But it wasn’t to be on another night of taking their medicine.
Rory Gaffney’s effort into the side netting in first-half injury time was the closest they came but the striker can be cut some slack after his immense contribution this year.
Still, Rovers have failed to score in six of their seven European away games this year and focus will shift in the close season to their recruitment in that regard.
But Stephen Bradley refuses to accept that it’s as simple as just bolstering his attack if Rovers are to make a bigger impact in Europe next season.
“It’s more than that,” he said at the Tele2 Arena. “We had some really good opportunities from set plays as well.
“Ronan (Finn) should score tonight from a header six yards out and doesn't, so it's very easy to look at that and say it's a centre forward issue when in fact it's a team issue.
“We’ve shown over the last five years that we score goals from every area of the pitch and it's not about saying that we just need to fix one area.
“As a collective we need to be more ruthless in both boxes. When you play at this level, that is usually the difference - both boxes. And Djurgardens showed that tonight.
“It’s not just a centre-forward problem, it's a team and it’s going to take a collective effort to improve that and we will.”
In seven games on the road, Rovers only kept one clean sheet - against Maltese side Hibernians - and leaked 14 goals, scoring twice.
And they were dicing with danger inside the opening minute here.
When Lee Grace failed to clear, Joel Asoro capitalised and was through only for the covering Roberto Lopes to slide in with a goal-saving tackle.
Rovers did settle and Jack Byrne’s deadballs from free-kicks and corners unnerved the hosts.
But Djurgardens were in control and made hay with a brilliant 20th minute opener that left the visitors in a spin.
Joint boss Thomas Lagerlöf had bemoaned a sluggish Djurgardens display in Dublin when the sides drew 0-0 in Tallaght.
He didn’t feel the runners-up in the Swedish league moved the ball fast enough. But here on their own patch, they had no such concerns.
Eight perfectly executed passes did the job with Rovers spliced and diced before they knew what was happening.
Zetterstrom started the move that eventually allowed skipper Eriksson to work his magic inside the Rovers half.
He played in Gustav Wikheim who teed up the lightning quick, overlapping fullback Elias Andersson.
After quickly outfoxing Dan Cleary, he in turn laid the ball off to Karl Holmberg who then set up Eriksson from six yards.
The former Sweden international had peeled off Sean Hoare far too easily.
And Hoare had the look of a man who wanted the ground to open up and swallow him once Eriksson pulled that trigger from six yards.
The captain had all the time in the world to beat Leon Pohls - a surprise starter ahead of Alan Mannus - with ease.
Bradley said: “We’re disappointed that we didn’t engage the winger earlier and stop it at source. But Eriksson is a good player and it’s going to happen.
“It looks quite simple from up above or on TV but things like that happen in a split second and he understands space. It was no surprise, but we just didn’t deal with it.”
Rovers’ advances into Djurgarden territory remained sporadic.
When they did break cover, Neil Farrugia looked capable of inflicting damage but was guilty of taking too much out of the ball.
But the Hoops best chance came seconds before the break - and it was one squandered.
Lurking at the near post, Lopes threw himself at a low Byrne cross but failed to connect.
Gaffney, at the back post, wasn’t expecting the ball to fall to him and stabbed at it in a panic but hit the side netting.
Cleary had been repeatedly targeted in that opening half and picked up a booking when frustration got the better of him.
But he was hooked at the break, with Sean Gannon replacing him, as Hoare and Richie Towell peppered Zetterstrom with early shots from distance.
Rovers were certainly playing better stuff by this stage, but they couldn’t afford to give an inch to a Djurgardens side that was electric on the break.
“Second-half was a little bit too open for my liking,” said Bradley. “We had more opportunities and chances but there was more control about us in the first-half.
“But I thought both halves were decent. We had good spells but we just couldn’t capitalise on them.”
Pohls was superb denying Emmanuel Banda late on when he scampered through one-on-one after Lopes committed himself.
But the German was counting his blessings in injury time.
Rushing out to intercept a ball, he was closer to the halfway line than his own goal.
But Victor Edvardsen couldn’t find Haris Radetinac - who would have scored - as Lopes intercepted.
“I wanted to make something happen,” said Pohls on his European debut.
“You get frustrated when you’re 1-0 down and you want to help as much as you can. Maybe on another day I would stay back.
“That was one of our best away experiences in Europe and the lad should be very proud of themselves. We did brilliantly.
“1-0 is a loss but it’s still a great result. We can look back on this game when next season starts and think positively.”
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