Connacht shock Munster to stay top
The visitors had taken an early lead but Munster edged their way back into the match and a late penalty try and a yellow card for John Muldoon set up a nervous end for Pat Lam's men.
But Aki was on hand to dive across with three minutes remaining and hand his side an historic victory.
Connacht started bright and were on the hunt from the off as they worked their way within ten metres of the Munster line in the first minute.
That pressure continued and eventually brought the first points of the night after 11 minutes when a penalty saw Craig Ronaldson give his side a 3-0 lead.
That advantage was extended after 17 minutes when Tiernan O'Halloran found space and darted across and, after confirmation from the TMO, Connacht were up by eight.
Ronaldson tagged on the extras to give the league-leaders control until Munster got themselves on the board midway through the half.
A surging maul saw Niall Scannell force his way over on his first start of the season but Ian Keatley was off target with the conversion.
Both sides were jostling for position after the restart with the visitors making early advances before Munster came back fighting.
But neither could find the space to open the game up with both defences holding firm in the face of pressure.
Munster began to edge their way forward after 52 minutes and went through phase after phase as they turned the screw.
That brought about a penalty but Munster opted to kick for the corner instead of taking an easy three.
It proved to be the wrong choice as Connacht cleared and, after 58 minutes, they were made to pay as Ronaldson kicked another penalty to give his side an eight-point advantage.
On 65 minutes the match was blown wide open as Munster were awarded a penalty try as Keatley was brought down and Muldoon was shown yellow.
Keatley tagged on the extras to make it a one-point match and Munster flooded into the Connacht half after the restart as the hosts smelled blood.
Munster had upped the intensity but Connacht had a golden opportunity to pull further ahead with ten minutes remaining but Ronaldson's penalty was off target.
The hosts couldn't take advantage of the extra man and, with time ticking down, both sides frantically searched for the score that would seal the win.
And it was Aki who was on hand to finish the game off in spectacular fashion as he dived across acrobatically in the left corner for an 18-12 lead.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Scannell, Penalty Try
Con: Keatley
For Connacht:
Tries: O'Halloran, Aki
Con: Ronaldson
Pens: Ronaldson 2
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Robin Copeland. 7 Jack O'Donoghue, 6 CJ Stander (captain), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Jordan Coghlan, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Denis Hurley.
Connacht: 15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Matt Healy, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Eoghan Masterson, 7 James Connolly, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Nathan White, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 George Naoupu, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Ian Porter, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Darragh Leader.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), Jonathan Peak (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Ospreys 13-6 Cardiff Blues
Ospreys captain Alun Wyn Jones led by example to ensure his side secured back-to-back PRO12 victories for the first time this season with a 13-6 triumph against Cardiff Blues.
A solitary penalty from Jarrod Evans – making his first PRO12 start – separated the two sides at the break as Cardiff Blues went in search of a first away win in the league since New Year's Day.
He doubled the lead after the break but the game's decisive moment arrived shortly before the hour mark when captain Jones piled across the line for Steve Tandy's side.
Replacement Sam Davies added a conversion and two penalties to secure victory, meaning the Ospreys have now beaten Cardiff Blues nine times on the bounce in the league.
Teenager Evans opened the scoring with a penalty for Cardiff Blues on seven minutes, after the hosts were pinged for holding on by referee Nigel Owens.
Ospreys sought to hit back immediately but, despite enjoying the majority of the first-half territory and possession, found themselves blunted by a well-organised Blues defence.
Dan Biggar sent a testing kick to the corner halfway through the opening 40, while Eli Walker – who signed a new contract the Liberty Stadium this week – started a promising move with a sharp dart down the wing, but both came to nothing.
A Dan Baker charge-down in Cardiff territory sparked the Ospreys into life on the half-hour mark, only for a Jonathan Spratt knock-on to hand possession back to the away side.
The Blues lost Wales captain Sam Warburton to an ankle problem but they could have been further ahead a minute before half-time, only for Evans to miss a penalty from near the left touchline.
Ospreys lost a Welsh international of their own at the break, with Sam Davies emerging for the second half in place of Biggar.
Davies had the chance to level the scores within two minutes with his first penalty but sent it wide of the left upright, before Owens awarded a scrum penalty to the Blues just inside home territory.
Evans assured captain Gethin Jenkins the posts were within reach and, true to his word, the youngster made it 6-0 with a sweet strike.
The Ospreys put together a string of phases in response, burrowing their way to within touching distance of the tryline and, with 58 minutes gone, the breakthrough arrived at last.
A pick-and-go from Jones saw the towering skipper power past a pair of Cardiff defenders to score, Davies tapping over the extras to give his side the lead.
The flyhalf extended the lead to four points with a penalty ten minutes from time, after a Cardiff tackler failed to roll away.
Davies missed a penalty four minutes from time, leaving Cardiff within an unconverted score, but he was handed the chance to make amends almost immediately and the young flyhalf bisected the posts on this occasion to wrap things up.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Try: Jones
Con: Davies
Pens: Davies 2
For Blues:
Pens: Evans 2
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Tom Grabham, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 12 Hanno Dirksen, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Dan Baker, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 James King, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Ben John.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 James Down, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 Macauley Cook, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Tom Isaacs.
Referee: Nigel Owens
Assistant Referees: Leighton Hodges, Wayne Davies
TMO: Gareth Simmonds
