GLASGOW produced one of their best Champions Cup performances to stun Racing 92 with a result that was all the more impressive for the manner in which it was achieved.

Gregor Townsend’s side were under heavy pressure from kick-off as last year’s runners-up tried to blitz them into submission, but after going seven points behind the Warriors steadily clawed their way back into the game.

Then, after showing the character to fight back and take a 13-7 lead into the second half, the Scots team took the game to Racing, vitally scoring first after the break.

The Top 14 champions mustered a fightback of their own late on, but they lacked the coherence needed to avoid a first home defeat of the season.

The Warriors still have a lot to do if they are to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time, starting on Friday when they welcome yesterday’s opponents to Scotstoun. But on this kind of form they can be a match for everyone – including Munster, who are favourites to top Pool one thanks to their 100 per cent record after their 38-0 victory over Leicester.

Having already, like Glasgow, lost a game, Racing needed to win this one, and they gave proof of their intentions right from kick-off, attacking with power and pace and improvising intelligently. If anything, they tried to play too much rugby too soon, keeping the ball alive at times when it would have been better to recycle.

Simone Favaro and the other members of the Warriors back row produced some outstanding work at the breakdown, playing a crucial role in turning the tide.

The opening score came when left-winger Juan Imhoff provided the overlap on the right and ran in a simple score in the corner, converted by Dan Carter.

Glasgow hit back with a Finn Russell penalty two minutes later, and should have had a try from an excellent Tommy Seymour break but were halted illegally. They kicked that penalty to touch, and to no avail, but when they got another with quarter-of-an-hour on the clock the stand-off was again on target.

Russell, who was named man of the match, proved just as useful at the other end of pitch, too, preventing a certain score by beating Imhoff to the winger’s chip ahead and booting the ball into touch.

With half-an-hour played, the Warriors took a surprise lead. Seymour again made the initial impact, and Alex Dunbar finished off the move, outstripping the cover defence with a well-angled run and an even more finely timed pass from Russell. The No 10 converted, and that appeared to knock a bit of the self-belief out of Racing, who failed to muster a convincing attack in the remaining 10 minutes of the half.

The start of the second half was a mirror image of the early stages of the first, with Glasgow taking the game to Racing at a high tempo and claiming another score. Russell feinted inside but was hauled to the deck a metre short of the line, then Ali Price took advantage of a momentary lapse of concentration in the defence to dart into space and touch down against the base of the post. Russell converted to give his side a 20-7 lead.

Sila Puafisi was the first substitute of the day, and then, with no sign of a fightback from their starting 15, Racing made four changes at once, replacing their entire front row as well as former Glasgow lock Leone Nakarawa.

Glasgow brought on three subs of their own, among them Henry Pyrgos on his return from injury, then Hogg was just wide from a penalty within his own half after Carter had offended at a ruck.

That was with 20 minutes left, and five minutes later Racing were penalised for holding on after trying to run a Russell kick back from deep, and the man himself converted the penalty to put his team 23-7 ahead.

Racing ended the game as territorially dominant as they had begun it, and with eight minutes left pulled a full score back after Carter weaved through the defence from the edge of the 22 then added the two points. They thought they were going to score again when Wenceslaus Lauret charged for the line, but Alex Allan tackled him to the ground and Hogg kicked the loose ball into touch.

There were still a few minutes left at that point, so Racing would have had their tails up and backed themselves to score again, but that attack was as close as they game to getting within bonus-point range.

Awarded a scrum around halfway, Glasgow were able to run the clock down, and it was a gleeful Pyrgos who kicked into touch to end a memorable day.