Tigers stun Thomond to take control
Scores from Vereniki Goneva and Mike Fitzgerald just before the break swung the game in the visitors favour.
Sean Cronin dabbed down to get Munster back in it before Ben Youngs sniped over, and Mike Sherry's try was too little, too late for Munster.
Leicester have three wins from three as they head back to Welford Road for the return leg next Sunday, and will be confident of progressing from pool four.
The Tigers were given the chance to make a perfect start when Munster offended at a ruck, just 40 seconds after the first whistle. Welsh playmaker Owen Williams made no mistake and Leicester were 3-0 ahead after just two minutes.
The early setback sparked Munster into life, as they made their way deep into Tigers territory thanks to breaks from Robin Copeland and CJ Stander. Their furious tempo forced Leicester to offend and Ian Keatley brought the hosts level.
The kickers exchanged penalties before the Tigers roared into the ascendancy. The visitors overpowered Munster to drive 20 metres before being brought down inches short. But the ball was moved left to Goneva, who showed sublime footwork to brush off Keatley and finish at the corner.
And it got even better five minutes later. Munster had a defensive line-out, but hooker Niall Scannell overthrew straight into the hands of Fitzgerald, who smashed his way over the line to score. Williams converted to hand his side an 18-6 half-time lead.
But the Munstermen came out firing in-front of the Thomond faithful and claimed an opportunistic score from Cronin. The prop touched the ball down after Leicester formed a ruck and the ball was placed over the line. And it got worse for the Tigers when Marcos Ayerza tackled Conor Murray late and was sent to the sin-bin. Keatley converted the resulting penalty to bring it back to 18-14.
But Leicester weathered the storm with a try of their own. Seremi Bai's chip was collected by Keith Earls, but Leicester rucked over to win the ball back. That gave Young's the chance to snipe around Frances Sailli and past Copeland to score. Sherry crossed to give Munster hope, but Tommy Bell's pair of penalties kept Leicester at arm's length.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Cronin, Sherry
Pens: Keatley 3
For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Goneva, Fitzgerald, B Youngs
Cons: Williams 2
Pens: Williams 2, Bell 2
Yellow card: Marcos Ayerza (Leicester Tigers, 44 – foul play, late tackle)
Teams:
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Denis Hurley, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander (captain), 7 Dave O'Callaghan, 6 Robin Copeland, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dave Foley, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Mark Chisholm, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Tomás O'Leary, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 Ed Slater (captain), 5 Mike Fitzgerald, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Dom Barrow, 20 Tom Croft, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Gonzalo Camacho.
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Tual Trainini (France), Laurent Breil (France)
TMO: Gilles Cogne (France)
Source: @ChampionsCup
