Glasgow stun Racing 92 in Champions Cup
Last Updated: 10/12/16 5:40pm
Glasgow Warriors banished the demons of last season to overcome Racing 92 23-14 in Paris.
The Scottish side's Champions Cup quarter-final hopes faded with defeat at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir last season, but they are in position to qualify this time around thanks to tries from Alex Dunbar and Ali Price.
Argentina wing Juan Imhoff put the hosts ahead in the opening exchanges before Dan Carter scored late-on, but it was not enough to lift them off the foot of pool one ahead of next week's return clash at Scotstoun.
It took last season's Champions Cup runners-up seven minutes to hit the front after a frantic start. World Rugby Player of the Year, Carter, sent a long pass to Casey Laulala, who sent Brice Dulin racing away from his own half.
The full-back combined with Joe Rokocoko, who powered towards the try line but he was brought down, and the ball was worked back to the blindside, where Imhoff dotted down at the corner for his second try in as many Champions Cup matches.
But Glasgow earned a penalty just inside the Racing 22-metre line moments after the restart, and Finn Russell got his side on the scoreboard.
He added another penalty to cut the gap to a single-point, and it was to get even better when Dunbar raced in for a try after 30 minutes.
Russell took the ball at first receiver and sent his centre crashing through a hole in the French defence to score, with the in-form fly-half adding the conversion for a 13-7 lead.
Jonny Gray then secured a vital turnover to help his side secure their advantage at half-time.
Gregor Townsend's team-talk clearly had a positive effect on his players as they raced out of the blocks to take control in Paris. Russell was at the heart of things again as he was brought down just short of the Racing line, but his half-back partner Price spotted a gap and sniped in to score at the base of the posts after 42 minutes.
The conversion was duly added by Russell to give Glasgow a 20-7 lead. Ryan Wilson then got his hands on the ball at a ruck to earn Townsend's men a crucial penalty deep in Racing territory. Russell made no mistake to put his side 16 points ahead with just 15 minutes remaining.
Carter then danced through the Warriors defence to score, before converting to bring his side back to within nine points, but it was too little, too late and Glasgow look set to fight-it-out with Munster for top spot.
