Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas praised his players after they came from a goal down to beat 10-man Stoke City.
Clint Dempsey cancelled out Steven N’Zonzi’s opener before Emmanuel Adebayor hit the winner seven minutes from time after Charlie Adam had been sent-off early in the second half.
The win moves Spurs into fourth, two points ahead of Arsenal – who have a game in hand against Wigan on Tuesday – in the race for the final UEFA Champions League spot.
Villas-Boas was quick to recognise the importance of the victory and was pleased to have taken the battle for a place in Europe’s top club competition down to the wire.
He said: “Extremely important because it keeps us in the frame, makes us within the possibility of still making the Champions League, so the dream is still alive for us.
“We wanted to take it to the last day, we play at home and Arsenal go away, so it’s an extremely important win because of those reasons.
“I’m extremely happy for the team for the way they were patient in the game and kept the ball moving very well, completed an important number of passes eventually we got the breakthrough and we managed to get the result.”
In spite of the win, Villas-Boas does not believe his side hold an advantage over their London rivals ahead of their game with the relegation-threatened FA Cup winners.
“You never know, Arsenal have a very experienced side and I’m not sure if this factor is enough to put them under more pressure for the game against Wigan,” Villas-Boas added.
“I think what we will see is that Wigan ARE very, very motivated, so they will probably give them a hard game.
“The objectives are important for both teams so I will expect IT to at least be a competitive game, but for us the objective to take this into the last game of the season is still open and that gives us more possibilities.”
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