Tottenham had to win and, as the second-half minutes ticked down and Wembley grew increasingly fraught, they came to crave a single chance; a shot at Champions League salvation.

Internazionale had been obdurate and it was difficult to remember Spurs creating anything in open play after the interval. Was this the slow death of their hopes? One thing was plain: Mauricio Pochettino and his players needed something special.

Tottenham 1-0 Internazionale: Champions League – as it happened Read more

In one of those rare moments of perfect clarity, they got it. There were 80 minutes on the clock when the rejuvenated Moussa Sissoko drove forward and Inter defenders were drawn towards him; their defensive structure finally punctured.

Sissoko fed the ball square to Dele Alli and, suddenly, it was on. Alli had Christian Eriksen on the overlap, easing into space, and he teed him up, having taken a touch as he pivoted. Eriksen had entered as a substitute only 10 minutes earlier but he did not feel his heart race. With great composure, he lifted a beautiful first-time finish past Samir Handanovic.

It is at such moments, when the pressure is at its most acute, that the big players deliver. Sissoko, Alli and Eriksen combined to do just that and 1-0 was the dream scoreline for Spurs because it took them above Inter into second place in Group B on the first tie-breaker criterion – the head-to-head record between the clubs. The fixture at San Siro ended in a 2-1 Inter win but the away goal that Eriksen scored that night now stands to count double.

Spurs still have it all to do, however. Inter will be the favourites to beat PSV Eindhoven at home in the final round of matches and, in that event, the London club will need to win against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. In short, they must match Inter’s result. Barcelona are already assured of finishing on top of the section. Might they rest players? To Spurs’s delight, however, they are alive and in control of their destiny.

Pochettino had spoken beforehand about his relish for seemingly impossible missions and the key to this one was always going to be the players’ attitude. They had shown it in the previous tie at home to PSV, when a pair of late Harry Kane goals swept them to a 2-1 win, and they kept their cool once more.

Inter are a better team than PSV and they bristled with latent menace on the break. Moreover, they were defensively disciplined and there were plenty of times when Spurs looked up to see a wall of black and blue. From the outset, it was clear that unpicking them and striking the right balance between pushing but not over-committing would be tough.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen challenges Inter’s Mauro Icardi. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Spurs pressed onto the front foot while Inter were happy to counterpunch and it was tight and edgy. If the home team needed any reminding of how Inter could fashion something out of nothing, it came on 27 minutes when Ivan Perisic released Mauro Icardi. The striker had the legs on Toby Alderweireld and the Tottenham defender knew it. He took the yellow card with a cynical foul.

Moments earlier, Harry Winks had put Hugo Lloris in trouble with a loose backpass and the goalkeeper got away with an even looser ball, which had been intended for Alderweireld. Serge Aurier would also win a vital challenge on the substitute Borja Valero inside the area at the end of the first half. Spurs’ margin for error was slim to nonexistent. They had been pepped by Saturday’s 3-1 win over Chelsea, when they tore into their opponents from the first whistle, but there was a different approach here and a different feel, a different tempo.

Against Chelsea, Pochettino had played Alli in the space behind two strikers but on this occasion, the England international’s starting position was nominally to the left of a midfield trio. As ever, he had the license to bomb forward, to roam in between the lines.

Pochettino started Winks rather than Eric Dier in front of the back four and he brought energy and assurance in possession while Sissoko supplied the power. His transformation from expensive misfit to driving force continues apace. Pochettino had raised eyebrows by omitting Eriksen from the starting XI and it feels as though he is managing the player’s fitness amid concerns about an abdominal problem. Eriksen would eventually cause pain to Inter’s gut.

Spurs struggled to get in behind their opponents in the first half but they still had their moments, none better than when Winks shaped a right-footed curler against the crossbar from 20 yards. Lucas Moura had shouted in vain for an early penalty after Matteo Politano unwisely dangled in a leg on him – it would have been a brave award from the referee Cüneyt Cakir – while Kane laid on an opening for Alli only for his teammate to lift high. Lucas shot too close to Handanovic after a thrust from Sissoko.

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The anxiety among the majority in the 57,132 crowd was palpable and the longer it remained goalless, the better it suited Inter; they came to threaten more in the second half as the spaces opened up.

Pochettino introduced Son Heung-min and Eriksen and the latter’s first touch was a free-kick that Jan Vertonghen might have converted at the far post. Lloris saved smartly from Perisic and, after the goal, from Danilo D’Ambrosio while the final action saw Kwadwo Asamoah unleash a goalbound drive that Alderweireld blocked. Spurs will travel to Barcelona in hope.