Hoffenheim 2-3 Tottenham: Heung-min Son double fires Ange Postecoglou’s side into top eight of the Europa League.

Match report as Tottenham secured victory against Hoffenheim in the Europa League; James Maddison opened the scoring before Heung-Min Son scored twice; Hoffenheim dominated the second half but Tottenham avoided a late scare.Tottenham Hotspur catapulted themselves into the top eight of the Europa League standings after holding off Hoffenheim to win 3-2 away from home.

Ange Postecoglou’s side were floundering in ninth heading into Thursday’s fixture but are now poised to avoid the two-legged playoffs to reach the round of 16 after moving up into sixth.

Tottenham play their final game of the league-phase at home against Elfsborg on January 30, while holding a one-point advantage on the teams looking to progress automatically, with Postecoglou stating it is a “great position to be in” after the game.”It gives us a great chance of getting one of those top-eight spots, which would give us a week off – that’s almost as good as getting through,” he told TNT Sport.

“It’s a great position for us to be in – we want to finish in the top-eight because it gives us the extra week of respite from the schedule we had.”We’re probably going to need it around that time, so it’s a great incentive.”

James Maddison’s stunning effort in the third minute and Heung-Min Son’s deflected shot 20 minutes later gave Tottenham control of the fixture but it was a tale of two halves as Hoffenheim came forward in waves after the restart.The pressure looked as if it would pay off after Brandon Austin was adjudged to have fouled Max Moerstedt in the penalty area, only for VAR to overturn the decision, but the breakthrough would arrive just seconds later.Anton Stach poked the ball into the back of the net – with hopes of a comeback high – until it was quickly met by Son wrapping his second effort on the evening into the far corner.