Stunned by a Steven Nzonzi header in only the third minute, they dug deep to overturn it with goals from Clint Dempsey and Emmanuel Adebayor to edge ahead of north London rivals Arsenal in the race for fourth place.
The comeback was no one-off, either. When Adebayor converted Dempsey’s cross from two yards, and the remaining seven minutes were duly negotiated without alarm, it meant Andre Villas-Boas’s side had garnered no fewer than 23 points from losing positions this season.
The old adage about what you do, rather than how you do it, has never been more apposite than at this late stage of proceedings, and Villas-Boas beamed with pride as he reflected on the latest turnaround in his team’s fortunes.
‘We have pulled a lot of results out of the fire this season, and that shows excellent character by the players,’ said the Tottenham boss. ‘It keeps us in the frame and means the big dream is alive.
‘We want to take it to the last day, because we’re at home and Arsenal are away, so this was an important win. Set-pieces are a big part of Stoke’s strength and the delivery was amazing for their goal.
‘Does this give us a psychological edge? I don’t know. Arsenal are very experienced, and I’m not sure this is enough to put them under real pressure. But Wigan will be very motivated to save themselves and will give them a hard game.’
Tottenham could hardly have made a worse start than being caught out by the most basic of Stoke ploys, Charlie Adam swung over a free-kick from the right and Nzonzi glanced a near-post header past Hugo Lloris.
If there were recriminations among Tottenham’s players at being found wanting so easily, there was little Stoke could have done about an inspired piece of quick thinking from Dempsey for their 20th-minute equaliser.
Racing back towards his own area, Marc Wilson reached a Scott Parker through-ball intended for Aaron Lennon fractionally before onrushing keeper Asmir Begovic and hooked it back up the pitch.
Begovic might have gathered it ahead of Lennon, but it still seemed a sensible, safety-first act by Wilson, until Dempsey met the clearance with an instinctive first-time shot from 35 yards that sailed into an unguarded net.
The Tottenham cause was further aided in the 47th minute when Adam tripped Jan Vertonghen from behind and was duly shown a second yellow card. The hunt for a winner was well and truly on, and the Stoke goal lived a charmed life, as Gareth Bale had an angled drive smothered by Begovic, before firing narrowly wide, and Vertonghen headed over.
Mounting pressure finally told in the 83rd minute, and if there was an element of luck about it, Tottenham could rightly claim they had done enough to deserve it.
A Bale shot deflected off a defender and fell obligingly into the path of an unmarked Dempsey, who had time to look up and roll the ball across the face of goal for Adebayor to convert with ease.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis had few complaints about Tottenham’s passing style yielding its rewards but was unhappy about the two yellow cards dished out to Adam by referee Kevin Friend.
‘I have looked at the two incidents, and Charlie doesn’t actually touch Vertonghen either time,’ he said.
The disappointing thing is I watch football week in, week out, and you see some challenges in some games which don’t get bookings and then you see two like today which receive yellow cards and the player is sent off.
‘We’ve had a full house here today, for our 150th anniversary, and it’s been a great day.
‘They’ve turned up to watch a great game of football, but it’s been taken away from them. The game was not a game after that. That’s the real disappointment for me. But at least we are safe, and I am delighted that we will be in the Premier League for a sixth consecutive season.’
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