Exeter inflicted the biggest home league defeat of the season on Leicester to cement second place in the Aviva Premiership.
Match stats
Leicester Tries: Rizzo (4), Mermoz (47)
Conversions: Williams (48)
Penalties: Williams (16)
Exeter Tries: Horstmann (8), Penalty (23), Townsend (23), Lees (60)
Conversions: Slade (9,24,35,61)
Penalties: Slade (18,40)
Match report
Exeter inflicted the biggest home league defeat of the season on Leicester to cement second place in the Aviva Premiership.
The Chiefs, who have not lost since October 30, completed the double over Leicester with a comfortable 34-15 win, earning maximum points to take them a point behind leaders Wasps.
Their tries came from Kai Horstmann, Stuart Townsend, Mitch Lees and a penalty try, while Henry Slade kicked 14 points.
Michele Rizzo and Maxime Mermoz scored for the Tigers in a defeat which not only ended a three-match winning run but dealt a huge blow to their play-off hopes.
The match between second and fifth in the Premiership was all over bar the shouting at the end of the first half after Exeter built up a 27-8 lead after outscoring the Tigers three tries to one.
The Chiefs, losing finalists last year, recovered from conceding an early try to give Leicester a lesson in power, direct running and accurate kicking and thoroughly deserved their lead.
Leicester, in contrast, made too many errors, gifting Exeter two tries and playing for 10 minutes with 14 men after hooker Tom Youngs was sin-binned for collapsing a driving maul which earned Exeter a penalty try.
Despite a day of heavy rain, Leicester's new £250,000 pitch was perfectly playable but both sides opted to kick the leather off the ball, or keep it in the forwards, who earned the Tigers a fifth minute try, Italy prop Rizzo being awarded it by the TMO despite appearing to make a double movement.
Fly-half Owen Williams missed the conversion before taking far too long over a clearance. He was charged down by flanker Horstmann who celebrated a new one-year contract by picking up for an easy try under the posts, which Slade converted.
Leicester regained the lead with a 16th minute penalty but Exeter then stepped up several gears and hit Leicester with 20 unanswered points in 22 minutes.
Slade kicked a penalty and the referee awarded Exeter a penalty try in the 23rd minute after Leicester had collapsed a driving maul for the second time in a matter of minutes.
Slade kicked the conversion and then slotted another from the right touchline after scrum-half Townsend got the third try, profiting from former Tigers lock Geoff Parling popping up on the wing and driving to the line.
Slade slotted his second penalty on the stroke of half time to give his side a 19-point lead which could easily have been more.
Leicester hit back eight minutes into the second half when French centre Mermoz cut inside after some great forward drives to score his second try for the club, which Williams converted.
Winger Adam Thomstone thought he had pulled another five points back in the 53rd minute after appearing to score from Williams' cross kick but the TMO ruled it out.
The Tigers stepped up the pressure and Parling was sin-binned a minute later.
But Exeter made light of the loss to secure a bonus point with a try by lock Lees, converted by Slade, on the hour.
Winger James Short knocked on just short of the line but it mattered little as Exeter coasted to victory.
Premiership fixtures, results and standings
Match reaction
Exeter head coach Rob Baxter: "There's no point in me beating about the bush, I'm delighted to get five points here.
"It was a crucial game. Leicester have started to find a bit of form and were fighting towards the top four and we were fighting to stay second.
"And we have got what we needed. We are still a relatively new Premiership club but I am not going to stand here and run away from the fact that we were in the final last season.
"If you finish second as we did and you are runners-up in the final, as long as you keep the foundations in place there is only one thing to aim for, that is to win it.
"I am not going to say we are not thinking about winning it. Of course we are.
"It's a huge motivation for us. Finishing second last season is a huge motivation for me. I don't want to finish second again.
"I think we are mentally stronger than last season. Physically we are good.
"We have had three Premiership games where we have conceded early scores but it has not diverted us.
"If anything it has strengthened our resolve and we have improved. The players know that if they keep working at what we do we will create some good moments. The next two or three weeks will be very important for us."
Leicester head coach Aaron Mauger: "It was frustrating. There were key moments in the first half when we let ourselves down.
"The chargedown was a lack of concentration. It was an easy seven points and allowed Exeter to get some momentum.
"The critical moment was when Geoff Parling went off and we didn't capitalise on it and they went down the other end and scored.
"They were better than us, especially up front. It's definitely a backwards step. We prepared to win this game but we did not execute well enough."
