Ange Postecoglou blew out his cheeks and exhaled with a visible air of relief as his depleted team staggered across the victory line.
Out on the pitch, as the final whistle went, players in lilywhite were collapsing all over the turf. Others were stretching out tired muscles. Utterly spent with their nerves shredded.
Tottenham finished the game with five teenagers on the pitch. They had lived dangerously at times against a very ordinary Hoffenheim team, but they scored three times, resisted late pressure and won.
In the circumstances, that was really all that mattered, staying on track to finish in the top eight of the Europa League and a place in the last-16 without the inconvenience of a playoff.
‘Just outstanding,’ was Postecoglou’s verdict. ‘These players are exhausted. These guys are giving everything they can. I couldn’t speak more highly of the players who are carrying us through. Every player stood up when we needed him.
‘We are in a real good position in Europe. Get into the knockout rounds, home and away, get our players back and we will back ourselves against anyone. The fact that these guys have got us to this position – all the players that have carried us through – credit to them.’
Son Heung-min scored twice as Tottenham earned a narrow 3-2 victory in the Europa League
The captain proved clinical to help a depleted Tottenham side boost their qualification hopes
Ange Postecoglou’s side staggered over the line but the result could be key for their season
It was a night when his senior players led the way. James Maddison fired them ahead with an early goal and captain Heung-min Son scored twice, his second at a crucial point when Hoffenheim detected a way back into the game and he celebrated with a finger to his lips after post-match criticism from the travelling fans at Everton on Sunday.
‘We are all copping stick at the moment,’ said Postecoglou. ‘That’s the nature of the beast. What we do, as footballers and managers, we are all in the firing line.
‘Whether it is warranted or not, you have to stand up and reply to it in the proper way. I thought he did that tonight. Sonny led from the front with his football but also with his general actions and most importantly the goals.’
Tottenham could do with Son back to his most prolific. Postecoglou confirmed after the match that scans show Dominic Solanke will be out for up to six weeks with the knee injury sustained in training last weekend.
They could do with Richarlison staying fit too and, no doubt with that in mind after his injury problems, the Brazilian was replaced after less than an hour, even though his team were fading by then.
Spurs had made a strong start. Maddison scored inside three minutes as they opened their hosts up with a direct and simple move. Davies won a long kick from the Hoffenheim keeper in the air, Bentancur passed it on to Pedro Porro who found the runner from midfield with a fine pass.
Maddison brought it quickly under control and applied a clean finish for his ninth goal of the season.
There were enough chances to settle the game in the opening 20 minutes. Porro and Son missed the best of them and the home side were starting to grow into the game when they conceded a second.
James Maddison had opened the scoring in the third minute to give Spurs the perfect start
Tottenham had a scare in the second half when VAR overruled a penalty decision for the hosts
Anton Stach pulled a goal back to spark the potential of a Hoffenheim fightback late on
Son restored Tottenham’s two goal cushion with a fine finish into the bottom corner
Maddison pounced midfield on hesitation by Kevin Akpoguma, broke out of defence and picked out Son, whose shot clipped recovering defender Pavel Kaderabek and spun over goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
For all their threat going forward, increasingly on the counterattack, Spurs were still loose and vulnerable at the back. They needed three vital saves by Brandon Austin before the interval. Two from shots by Max Moerstadt and the best of the trio, low to his right to deny Tom Bischof.
Radu Dragusin made an important defensive block to keep out an effort by Finn Ole Becker during this spell of pressure and Spurs came close to a third when Baumann scrambled across his line to keep out a header from Lucas Bergvall.
Hoffenheim summoned new purpose for the second half, committing more players forward and creating chances.
Andrej Kramaric planted a header against the bar when unmarked, a chip from Anton Stach drifted wide, and there was a reprieve from the VAR after a penalty was harshly awarded against Austin.
Hoffenheim’s David Mokwa pulled a goal back in the 88th minute but Tottenham clung on
The goalkeeper reached a high cross and scooped it to safety over his own goal as he collided with striker Moerstadt but referee Morten Krogh pointed to the spot and Kramaric was at the top of his run about to take the kick when the belated intervention came.
Hoffenheim pulled one back soon afterwards, hitting Spurs on the break with a goal by Stach only to gift the initiative straight back to Tottenham with a poor pass out of defence cut out by Bentancur.
His pass to Mikey Moore was relayed to Son who produced a precision finish, arrowed low into the far corner. There was another late scare when substitute David Mokwa scored Hoffenheim’s second, a header in the 88th minute. But the visitors clung on.
‘Winning away in Europe is always difficult irrespective of the situation you’re in,’ said Postecoglou. ‘But with the situation we’re in, just a really unbelievable effort.’
