Edinburgh produced one of their greatest Euro displays to beat Gloucester 16-10 and keep their Heineken Cup dream alive against all the odds.
The Gunners had been rated no-hopers in the wake of Gloucester’s victory at Murrayfield seven days earlier.
But Alan Solomons troops came up with a display brimming with guts and determination that silenced the Kingsholm crowd rated the most raucous in England.
Now the capital crackers could earn a shock place in the quarter-finals by beating Perpignan on home turf then completing the double over Munster.
Edinburgh were forced to reshuffle their line-up just before kick-off when stand-off Harry Leonard failed to shake off a thigh muscle problem.
Greig Tonks moved from full-back for his first stint in the No 10 berth, with Jack Cuthbert switching to No 15. Into his wing slot came Tom Brown, who is aiming for a Scotland recall for the Six Nations campaign.
Despite being under pressure in the opening exchanges, Edinburgh grabbed the lead in the 10th minute with a confidently-struck Cuthbert penalty after Brown was obstructed while chasing a lofted kick.
They then enjoyed a reprieve at the other end as Freddie Burns watched his pot at goal drift narrowly wide of the near post.
Cuthbert was quickly back in the limelight to double his side’s tally with fortune playing a part. His 45-metre effort bounced on the crossbar and dropped over.
A series of handling errors stopped Edinburgh creating a try and they paid dearly for their carelessness just before the break. The home pack embarked on a close-knit surge inside the danger zone and French ref Romain Poite had no option but to hand them a penalty try as the Gunners illegally blocked them.
Freddie Burns added the easy conversion but Cuthbert was bang on target again to snatch back the lead for the visitors.
Gunners skipper Ross Ford couldn’t disguise his disgust when ref Poite penalised his front row, allowing Burns to add three points to the Gloucester tally.
Ford was convinced both home props had been pushing inwards instead of straight.
The hooker was happy again five minutes later, however, as Edinburgh created a superb try for centre Ben Atiga keeping their patience and wearing down the host defence with well-controlled phases.
Cuthbert added the extras, but sent his next penalty attempt wide midway through the half. And the pressure was back on Edinburgh when prop Willem Nel was yellow carded for collapsing a scrum.
Gloucester immediately stepped up the pace and power and only desperate defence kept them out. Nel returned to the fray to go within centimetres of claiming a second try.
He burrowed over, but let the ball squirm from his grasp at the crucial moment. However, the Edinburgh markers did the business again in the closing few minutes.