Son Heung-min struck deep into stoppage time as Tottenham’s chances of Champions League football next season were boosted by a 3-2 win at Aston Villa on Sunday.
A third consecutive Premier League victory lifts Spurs up to fifth – which could be enough to secure Champions League qualification with Manchester City facing a two-season ban from the competition – and within one point of fourth-placed Chelsea.
Jose Mourinho’s men were worthy of their victory after bouncing back from a nightmare start when Toby Alderweireld sliced into his own goal.
The Belgian quickly made amends at the other end with a thumping finish before Son followed up after Pepe Reina had saved his penalty to put the visitors in front.
Slack defending threatened to cost Tottenham all three points when they allowed Bjorn Engels to equalise early in the second half.
However, Engels was the culprit to cost Villa a point in their battle to beat the drop as he miscontrolled a long ball forward in the 94th minute and Son sprinted clear to finish calmly.
Alderweireld had not travelled with his teammates to Birmingham after attending the birth of his child on Saturday and admitted to feeling heavy legged after he turned Anwar El Ghazi’s deflected cross into his own net after just nine minutes.
However, the South Korean had the final say by composing himself to slot just beyond Reina’s reach with virtually the last action of the game and send Spurs closer to a fifth straight season of Champions League football.
