Olly Woodburn scored two tries as Exeter secured a stunning 35-26 win in a spirited contest as Leicester missed the chance to move up to second in the Gallagher Prem table.
Leicester missed out on a home semi-final thanks to Henry Slade’s last-minute penalty, but still managed to secure a safe place in the play-offs.
Bristol Bears’ hopes of finishing in the top four are now over, with the final play-off side decided on Saturday between fourth-placed Exeter and fifth-placed Saracens at Sandy Park. Exeter are three points ahead of Saracens in the table.
Exeter were the winners, scoring 4 to 3 tries. Len Ikitau and Andrea Zambonin also scored touchdowns, while Slade kicked three penalties and three conversions.
Exeter forwards coach Ross McMillan said: “We were disappointed with our performance at Harlequins last week but we have bounced back from each setback throughout the season.
“The tight end has great character and always reacted when he got a little bumped.
“We knew it was going to be a tough challenge from the start but the boys accepted it and I loved the battle that went on today, the scraps on the floor and in the air were really good, especially as possession of the ball is important.
“Leicester are used to dominating teams here so I’m incredibly proud of the way we came up against them.”
Leicester’s tries came from George Pearson, Ollie Cracknell and Charlie Clare, while Orlando Bailey added 11 points with the boot.
Hanro Liebenberg led the Tigers on his 150th appearance for the club and his side soon went ahead when Bailey kicked a penalty in the fourth minute.
But soon after the restart, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso beat three defenders and timed his pass perfectly to collect a clearance to send Woodburn under the post.
Slade converted and added a simple penalty before the Tigers responded with an impressive score when Pearson collected a well-judged cross-field kick from Bailey.
Leicester looked to have regained the lead after a Bailey break saw Adam Radwan cross the line, but TMO replays showed a combined effort from Slade and Harvey Skinner saved the wing.
But the Tigers were not to be denied and a second penalty from Bailey put them back in front, but this was soon nullified by a penalty from Slade.
Leicester squandered a golden opportunity when Ollie Hassell-Collins failed to collect Pearson’s poor pass after powerful scores from Jack van Poortvliet and Jamie Blamire.
However, the hosts went ahead 14-13 thanks to another penalty from Bailey.
Three minutes after the restart, Exeter scored a fine second try when a neat offload from Dafydd Jenkins sent Tom Hooper racing into the opposition 22 and when the ball was recycled Ikitau got off the cover wide and scored.
Leicester switched four forwards at once but it did not pay dividends as Exeter immediately extended their lead when Woodburn received an inside pass from Ikitau for his second try.
But Woodburn was guilty of a deliberate knock-on as the Tigers capitalized when Cracknell had his side trailing by four points in the final quarter.
Woodburn came back from the sin-bin without doing any further damage to the scoreboard, but on their return Clare finished from close range to set up a tense finish.
A handling error from the home side allowed Exeter to regain the lead with Zambonin escaping a weak challenge from Adam Radwan for a bonus point try from Slade’s last-minute penalty and a long pass that left the Tigers with no points in the game.
