Teddy Sherringham's injury-time penalty sent Spurs to the top of the Premiership table as they beat Southampton 2-1 at White Hart Lane.
The game looked to be heading for a draw when referee Mike Dean awarded the late spot-kick and sent off Saints defender Michael Svensson.
Having won their last two Premiership games Spurs fans thought they were on their way to a comfortable third win in succession when they took the lead after just ten minutes.
Matt Etherington won a corner on the left wing which was swung to the back post by Milenko Acimovic and when Sheringham headed it back across goal, Les Ferdinand was able to prod the ball home from six yards.
Southampton barely made it inside Spurs' half in the opening 20 minutes but they nearly equalised with their first chance of the match when Paul Telfer met Rory Delap's cross and forced a great save from Kasey Keller.
If that was a warning Spurs did not heed it as Saints duly equalised on the half hour. Fabrice Fernandes fed Brett Ormerod and his low cross from the right flank was turned into his own net by Mauricio Taricco under pressure from Saints striker James Beattie.
Both goalkeepers came to their side's rescue countless times after that, Keller denying Ormerod and Wayne Bridge while Saints keeper Paul Jones thwarted Ben Thatcher and made a fine double save from Simon Davies.
But the biggest drama came right at the death when Steffen Iversen's shot came back off the post and his second attempt struck the raised arms of Svensson to lead to the decisive penalty.
"The rules say if it was deliberate handball then he had to go but I haven't had the chance to see it again yet," said Saints boss Gordon Strachan.
"We deserved to take something from the game - our points total isn't reflecting our performances at the moment."
Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle said: "We only played reasonably well and we still won - that is a significant sign for us."