Patched-up Spurs' best 45 minutes of the season relieved some of the mounting pressure on Thomas Frank with a 2-0 win over 10-man Borussia Dortmund.
Despite having only 11 outfield players available and with ongoing questions over their head coach's future, Tottenham produced 45 minutes of the most free-flowing football they have managed since Frank's appointment - and now look set to secure a league phase.
"I'll have two big glasses of red, that'll be necessary," a clearly relieved Frank - whose side were booed in a toxic atmosphere following defeat to West Ham last time out - joked after the game.
"The players are giving everything, that is a good sign about the coach. An extremely good sign that they want to do everything. We were down to the bare bones with available players.
"It was extremely nice to experience the way the fans pushed us forward. That energy between the fans and the players was magic."
Spurs have reserved many of their best performances for European competition this season but this still represented the pick of the bunch and came against the most high-profile opposition they have hosted in this tournament under Frank.
In a perfect example of necessity being the mother of invention, makeshift left winger Djed Spence was their best player in that opening period but saw the headlines go to the goalscoring duo of captain Cristian Romero and the returning Dominic Solanke.
Spence did at least win the corner leading to Romero's opener, recycled by Wilson Odobert and fired home by the centre-back 14 minutes in, which gave Spurs a lead that even by then they richly deserved.
After watching five months of insipid football, the home fans were regularly off their seats as Spurs cut apart their visitors at will, taking full advantage of their clear physical edge, threatening with every attack and lacking only an all-important second goal.
Their task was given a boost with less than half an hour played when Daniel Svensson was sent off for a high challenge on Odobert following a VAR review, and 11 minutes later Spurs finally had their cushion as the French winger's cross was bundled home - though not without ricocheting off his own calf first - by Solanke on his Champions League debut.
Spurs went in at the break without giving away a single shot though there was still a worry there could be another sting in the tail their fans have become accustomed to witnessing. A half-time double change did improve Dortmund, but Julian Ryerson's free-kick minutes after the interval was as close as they came to inspiring a collapse from the hosts.
Instead, the one frustration for Frank on an otherwise hugely encouraging night was an injury suffered by Lucas Bergvall, which did at least herald the arrival of 17-year-old debutant Jun'Ai Byfield to become Spurs' youngest ever Champions League player.
The teenager slotted in comfortably at right-back as Spurs celebrated an unfamiliarly comfortable victory to give Frank a few days out of the spotlight - at least until the weekend trip to Burnley.
Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank:
"The big thing is to build on this with a performance and a win against Burnley on Saturday. It's a big skill to be able to produce in the Premier League and Champions League every week from the players.
"We're working very hard on that. I keep saying it but this is the eighth game in a row where we have consistently performed quite well, but haven't been able to get the margins with us.
"Today you can say the margins may have been the red card, instead of the one against Liverpool which went the other way. Of course, the triple contact of Dom's goal going in, whereas we didn't get that against Sunderland, Bournemouth and West Ham where we could have won all three.
"We've got to keep doing the same things, keep believing and we know things will turn."
Your Site' Ron Walker at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
"That result was about everything Tottenham and Thomas Frank needed this evening.
"A win, first and foremost, but also a performance of quality and excitement. Something hugely lacking this season.
"Despite the cold and rain most of the South Stand remained to applaud the players off - and even Frank, this time.
"There are of course caveats about the physicality of Dortmund and that Burnley will offer a very different challenge to break down on Saturday.
"But those are problems for another day. For a welcome change, it was smiles all round on the pitch from Frank and his players."
Goalscorer Dominic Solanke to TNT Sport:
"I hope [this can be a turning point]. We've done quite well in the Champions League and if you look back to last season and how well we did in the Europa League, it definitely gave the team confidence.
"We know we haven't been good enough in Premier League this year, so hopefully this gives us the extra boost, we can improve in the league and continue in the Champions League.
"When we're all together - players, staff, fans - that's key. We're all one club, we all want the same thing. We need to put the performances in on the pitch like we did tonight and hopefully we can carry on the momentum."
