Premiership: Sale 15-25 Exeter - Chiefs record first win against 14-man sale

England centre Henry Slade scored 20 points as Exeter won for the first time since beating Sale in June's Premiership semi-final

Exeter beat 14-man Sale 25-15 to get a first Premiership win of the season.

A Slade penalty put Exeter ahead before Rohan Janse van Rensburg was sent off for a high tackle on Harvey Skinner.

Slade and Will Witty went over in quick succession to kill the game off before Ewan Ashman got a late try for Sale.

The result moves Exeter up to ninth place in the Premiership table while Sale drop to sixth.

Exeter's day started poorly - Slade and Facundo Cordero got in each other's way at the kick off giving away possession deep in their own territory, and a few phases after a five-metre lineout, Harrison went in from close range for Sale.

Du Preez added a penalty soon after, but Exeter began to get into their stride as they spent the next 10 minutes in control of the possession and territory, with Slade converting a penalty.

Exeter again made a mistake at the restart as they gave away a penalty, and they could have conceded a try had a Sale pass not inadvertently hit the referee as the hosts went for the corner.

Sale's defence was stifling as Exeter struggled to find a way through despite having the bulk of the possession as the half wore on - but they did make the breakthrough a minute before half time as Tom O'Flaherty's mazy run put the Sharks on the back foot and a few passes later Slade went over.

Slade kicked a penalty soon after the restart and a few minutes later, Cameron Neild had a try chalked off after television replays showed the Sale forward was not at the back of the ruck when he picked the ball up and went in.

The turning point came with 27 minutes to go as Van Rensburg was red-carded when replays showed his shoulder hit Skinner's jaw as he tried to tackle the fly-half, who had to come off for a head injury assessment as a result.

With a man down, Exeter wasted no time in capitalising - first Slade dummied well to create enough space to go over after a five-pass move while Will Witty charged down a kick and dribbled football-style towards the line before diving over.

Ewan Ashman went over in the left corner with 10 minutes to go after a close-range lineout for his first-ever Sale try to create a nervy finish, but Exeter held on to register a first win in Premiership Rugby since they beat Sale in last season's semi-final in June.

Sale: Solomona; Roebuck, Janse van Rensburg, Hill, Yarde; R du Preez, Cliff; Harrison, Langdon, Schonert, Wiese, J-P du Preez, Neild, Dugdale, Ross (capt).

Replacements: Ashman, Rodd, Oosthuizen, Birch, Taylor, Warr, Wilkinson, L James

Exeter: Hogg; Cordero, Slade, Devoto, O'Flaherty; H Skinner, Maunder; Moon, Yeandle (capt), Iosefa-Scott, Witty, Lonsdale, Ewers, Armand, Capstick

Replacements: Innard, Hepburn, Williams, McCauley, Tshiunza, Townsend, J Simmonds, Hendrickson

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (RFU).

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