Son Heung-Min's second-half strike was enough for Tottenham to take all three points against Crystal Palace at Wembley.
On what was an often frustrating afternoon for Spurs, Son's moment of magic ensured they would keep the heat on Manchester United in second place in the Premier League.
He curled home brilliantly from the edge of the area, past Julian Speroni into the bottom corner, after the ball had bounced around the penalty box.
But Palace also had their moments, with Wilfried Zaha missing a gilt-edged chance to fire them ahead earlier in the second period.
Here are five talking points...
1. After United and Real, this was a big win for Tottenham
Playing in Europe is not only about beating the reigning Champions League winners on magical nights.
It is then showing the same application and motivation to play the Premier League's bottom club in the next game.
Spurs lacked sharpness but stuck to their task.
2. Hodgson is a master of defensive organisation
It did not please fans of Liverpool or sometimes England but the former Fulham and West Brom boss knows how to set up a team to keep it tight at the back.
His gameplan was to soak up pressure and use the pace of Townsend and Zaha on the counter-attack.
For 64 minutes, he was doing better than Zinedine Zidane.
3. Son has become a vital part of this Spurs team
Fernando Llorente was bought in the summer as cover for Harry Kane.
But when the England striker was out recently, the versatile South Korean took the job of leading the line before returning to his supporting role today.
His direct running and intelligent passing is a real asset.
4. Palace are not sure to go down
No goals and no points in the opening seven matches would usually signal the end.
But Palace are getting better every game under Hodgson and there are enough bad teams down there to give the Eagles hope they can catch three of them
5. Dier can be the best centre-back in the country
The England star can played in midfield or the back but Pochettino used him in the centre of defence today.
As the spare man, he has Rio Ferdinand's ability to stroll forward with the ball and find his team-mates.
Difficult to find pluses about this Spurs performance but he was one of them.