19 points from the boot of Maxime Machenaud helped Racing 92 see off Munster 34-30 in a tense Champions Cup clash at U Arena on Sunday.
Tries from Yannick Nyanga, Marc Andreu and Dimitri Szarzewski saw them to victory, but it was Machenaud's boot that proved the difference.
In response, Munster crossed through Jean Kleyn, Keith Earls and Chris Farrell, with their losing bonus-point keeping them top of this pool.
It was an intense opening 40 minutes in a special venue as Racing 92 went in 13-7 to the good in a huge game in the context of Pool Four.
Racing shot out of the blocks and crossed inside three minutes when slick handling from their own half led to a short carry from back-row Nyanga. Machenaud converted to make it 7-0 with the home outfit definitely setting the early tempo as the Irish struggled for possession.
That all changed on 21 minutes though when second-row Kleyn reached out for the try-line to make it 10-7, with Munster finding their feet.
Munster had two chances to add further points off the tee via penalties, but first Ian Keatley and then Conor Murray both hit the upright. Machenaud made no such error though in the dying embers of the half, making it 13-7 as Peter O'Mahony was penalised for not rolling away.
Racing 92 once again came out from the dressing room in fine fettle and crossed just two minutes into the half, as Andreu slipped over on the left wing after quick handling from Virimi Vakatawa. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the hosts were out of one-score range.
That gap didn't last long though as Munster showed their European experience as they responded in quick time, with a well worked breakout seeing Earls finish off a superb team score. Keatley made no such mistake off the kicking tee with Munster about to enjoy a purple patch.
Racing 92 were struggling to live with their opponent coming up to the 50 minute mark and Keatley's assist to Farrell in fact put Munster 21-18 ahead. However, a scrum penalty shortly afterwards saw Machenaud chalk off that lead, locking things up at 21-21 three minutes later.
In an end-to-end spell, Munster looked on top when two further Keatley penalties took them into a 27-21 advantage but, in the blink of an eye, it was Racing back in front at 28-27 thanks to a short line-out move seeing Nyanga setting up hooker Szarzewski for a converted score.
Munster did have the chance to retake the lead on 70 minutes when Murray lined up a penalty from close to halfway. But he was off-target, despite having the distance, so Munster would have to work to create another opportunity to pick up what would be a crucial away victory.
That chance came following a scrum penalty on 74 minutes and this time Murray made no mistake, firing the kick over with plenty to spare.
But Racing would launch a fightback of their own, led by former Munster player Donnacha Ryan's work up front, as two Machenaud penalties put them into a 34-30 lead that they held until full-time, moving one point behind Munster in the pool and setting up a huge final round.
The scorers:
For Racing 92:
Tries: Nyanga, Andreu, Szarzewski
Cons: Machenaud 2
Pens: Machenaud 5
For Munster:
Tries: Kleyn, Earls, Farrell
Cons: Keatley 3
Pens: Keatley 2, Murray
Racing 92: 15 Louis Dupichot, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Rémi Tales, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Leone Nakarawa, 7 Wenceslas Lauret, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Edwin Maka, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 20 Boris Palu, 21 Xavier Chauveau, 22 Benjamin Dambielle, 23 Joe Rokocoko
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 James Cronin, 18 John Ryan, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Alex Wootton
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley (England), Roy Maybank (England)
Television match official: Rowan Kitt (England)
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