Saracens are the only team with a 100 per cent record in England's Premiership One after they ruined Leicester's unbeaten record in a battle of the big two at Vicarage Road.
Last season in three matches the teams were not split by a single point and they were locked at 1010 with a try apiece after 54 minutes in front of 17,347 fans.
But Leicester came under such pressure in the final phase that they conceded a mass of penalties and full-back Gavin Johnson calmly eased Saracens clear with a couple of kicks before going off.
This allowed former Brive stand-off Alain Penaud, Leicester's tormentor in the 1997 Heineken Cup final, to complete the job with two more late penalties.
The last time the teams met in the league here the festive spirit was betrayed with endless punch-ups. On this occasion there were isolated episodes involving the forwards, but referee Brian Campsall avoided bringing out the cards, while firmly lecturing Leicester's Martin Johnson and Saracens Paddy Johns, as well as Tigers' Fritz Van Heerden.
Leicester's failure to make headway after the try that took them ahead on the stroke of halftime was compounded by tentative handling in open play. At least a dozen times Tigers moved the ball, but the receiver knocked on or fumbled, killing the move.
Joel Stransky opened the scoring with a 45-yard penalty in the 22nd minute and Johnson replied in the 38th minute.
Leicester broke the try deadlock when they moved the ball from scrum and wing Leon Lloyd came in on an unstoppable diagonal run to score untouched and Stransky converted.
Straight after half-time Ryan Constable proved that tries from set-piece play can be scored when he was fed by fellow centre Jeremy Thomson from a scrum in front of Leicester's post. Gavin Johnson converted, Saracens were level and on their way to a victory that leaves them the only undefeated team and makes them red hot favourites to go one better and win the Premiership after their narrow failure last season.
Nevertheless, Saracens player-coach Francois was unhappy at his team's performance.
Pienaar, recovering from a knee operation, said: "It was critical to win at home, but I am not really happy with our game.
"We struggled in the first half before playing excellently after half-time. Our scrums were satisfying - except for one error.
"It seems that Saracens and Leicester have become close rivals over the last year and defences were always right in the face of attackers. We got our penalties to win the match, but we were being stopped from releasing the ball to our backs."
Pienaar nominated Richard Hill as the victor in the contest against Neil Back - England's two contenders for the open-side flank position.
"Richard went really well, while Back was trying to hold him down in the scrums," he said.
Leicester manager Dean Richards nominated Kyran Bracken as man of the match and "a tremendous influence for Saracens".
He added: "We should have been clear by half-time. Back scored but the referee didn't see it and there were a few other chances. We lost our composure disappointingly in the second half, giving away penalties.
"I was surprised that Saracens got the nudge on us at the scrums and 13 knock-ons was unacceptable, especially when they came from the senior players.
"We could have been clear at half-time but we hardly got any ball in the second half. We contributed to our own downfall, but it gives us a standard to aim at. We have played for only 30 minutes in the first few weeks of the season. We increased that to 45 today but the aim is 80 minutes."
Scores - Saracens (3) 22. Tries: Constable. Cons: Johnson. Pens: Johnson 3, Penaud 2. Leicester (10) 10. Tries: Lloyd. Cons: Stransky. Pens: Stransky.
SARACENS: Johnson, Singer, Constable, Thomson, Daniel, Penaud, Bracken, Grau, Chuter, Wallace, Johns, Grewcock, Coker, Dip rose, Hill. Replacements: Sorrell for Johnson (62), Pienaar for Coker (67). Not Used: Free, Lee, Olver, Cairns, Chesney.
LEICESTER: Stimpson, Lloyd, Potter, Howard, Ezulike, Stransky, Healey, Jelley, Cockerill, Garforth, Johnson, Van Heerden, Gustard, Corry, Back. Replacements: Greenwood for Howard (76), West for Cockerill (70), Rowntree for Jelley (50). Not Used: Hamilton, Horak, Moody, Fletcher.
Referee: B Campsall (Yorkshire).
