Son Heung-min struck twice to fire Tottenham to victory against Hoffenheim, but Spurs were left hanging on in the closing stages of a tense encounter.
Spurs, who desperately needed a win to restore some momentum in north London, had the lead within five minutes, as James Maddison brought down an exceptional Pedro Porro forward ball and finished powerfully to give his side a superb start.
Porro then had a glorious chance to add a second after being played through by Son Heung-min, but he dragged his shot dreadfully wide.
Instead, it was Son who doubled Spurs’ lead, with the South Korea international finishing via a deflection in the box after once again getting beyond Hoffenheim’s offside trap.
The London club seemed to retreat in the second half, however, and a penalty was awarded on the hour mark, as Brandon Austin came out of his goal to try to reach a cross and made contact with Max Moerstedt.
However, a VAR review correctly advised the referee to overturn his decision.Within five minutes, however, Hoffenheim were back in the game. A quick breakaway saw the Bundesliga side cut through Spurs and Anton Stach finished a fine cross to hand them a lifeline.
But any hope was swiftly extinguished thanks to Son, who completed his brace with a superb finish into the far corner after a quick transition.Hoffenheim managed to pull another goal back thanks to Mokwa Ntusu’s back-post header but it was too late for a grandstand finish.
It’s very hard to look beyond Son. While his general play can, at times, leave a little to be desired at present, he scored twice, including a vital late goal to all but kill off Hoffenheim’s hopes. He and Ange Postecoglou will both hope this is a spark from which he can catch fire, particularly in the Premier League.
Hoffenheim were, for the most part, absolutely terrible. Spurs’ bizarre decision to retreat at the start of the second half looked all the more odd given how poor the hosts were in the first-half, consistently leaving gaps all across the pitch and encouraging Tottenham to transition into wide open spaces.
That led to both of Spurs’ first two goals and undercut their fightback late on. It is little surprise they are just one place above the Bundesliga relegation zone and it is to Spurs’ detriment that this game ended with a one-goal margin.
Spurs return to Premier League action against Leicester City this weekend. It is a pivotal game, as Spurs sit 15th and are only 10 points clear of the 19th-placed Foxes. A loss in that game would set nerves jangling in north London.