Harry Kane has 12 Champions League goals from 14 appearances for Tottenham

Harry Kane inspired a dramatic late comeback by Tottenham to keep their Champions League hopes alive with victory over PSV Eindhoven at Wembley.

Spurs were on the way out with 12 minutes left as they trailed to Luuk de Jong's towering header, powered past goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, in for suspended Hugo Lloris, after 61 seconds.

Tottenham were then frustrated by a superb display from PSV keeper Jeroen Zoet, who kept them at bay with a mixture of brilliance and good fortune, utilising all parts of his body to make a succession of crucial saves.

And then, with time running out and Spurs on the brink of elimination at the group stage, Kane, as so often before, came to their rescue, leaving their fate in their own hands but with tough tasks to come in their final two games at home to Inter Milan and away to Barcelona.

Kane brought the disgruntled home fans alive with a low shot that finally broke the defiant resistance of Zoet - then fashioned a victory that looked unlikely for such a long time when his close-range header was deflected past Zoet by substitute Trent Sainsbury with one minute left.

Kane the hero once again

Tottenham's second goal took a heavy deflection off Trent Sainsbury

Spurs may still be outsiders to make progress from Group B - but it is thanks to their captain fantastic Kane that they are still in a position to navigate a route through to the knockout phase of the Champions League.

This was a tough, attritional night for Spurs, who were nowhere near their best and confronted by opponents in the Dutch champions who got exactly what they wanted with that early goal and set about protecting it as if their lives depended on it.

Mauricio Pochettino's side were off colour and even the hugely popular manager felt the fury of the home gallery when his decision to substitute the dangerous Lucas Moura with Erik Lamela was greeted by loud jeering around Wembley.

It was approaching crisis time for Spurs as PSV held out but once again it was Kane who was their man of the moment, shrugging off what had been a sluggish personal performance up to that point to ensure he was the architect of what may yet prove to be a crucial win.

Kane was the predator in the box for the first and then produced the header that took that vital deflection off Sainsbury to end what had been a night of frustration in sheer elation. It also ended PSV's hopes of qualification.

A word of praise, too, for keeper Gazzaniga, given the vote over Michel Vorm in Lloris's absence. He produced crucial saves when needed and certainly played his part in keeping Spurs in the hunt for a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Spurs must improve to survive

Spurs and their fans greeted the final whistle with a mixture of elation and relief as they fashioned a turnaround that was starting to look increasingly unlikely to revive their fading Champions League aspirations.

Pochettino and his players must know, however, that they simply must move their game on to another level if they are to get the results they need at home to Inter Milan and then that most daunting of tasks, away to Barcelona, to go through into the knockout stage.

This was a victory that was a tribute to persistence rather than high quality in a Wembley atmosphere subdued by the struggles, for much of the time, of the home team and the swathes of empty red seats in a crowd of 46,588 that was down on the night's capacity of 51,000 and meant barely half the seating was used.

Wembley has been a somewhat eerie place for Spurs in their last two games, against Manchester City in the Premier League and for this game but their difficulties in the Champions League have been very much of their own making.

Late goals away to Inter and PSV cast aside winning positions that would have made their lives so much easier.

The good news for Pochettino and Spurs is that they are still in with a fighting chance but Wembley must be a cauldron against Inter and they simply to have to find other gears if they are to make the most of this late reprieve.

Wembley pitch not perfect

Wembley's playing surface - such a talking point for the home defeat by Manchester City - at least looked better. The pitch did not appear as cut up and the NFL markings, visible when they played City just a day after the Jacksonville Jaguars v Philadelphia Eagles clash, had been removed.

This was not, however, a game that flowed and the battle-hardened PSV coach Mark van Bommel demonstrated a colourful command of English to describe its condition in very straightforward terms.

Van Bommel said his players were complaining after training at Wembley, although the pain of this late defeat may have coloured his view.

Spurs will not be complaining - but they will hope it is soon back in peak condition, especially for the pivotal last home Champions League group game against Inter Milan.