Son Heung-min continued his superb recent form to give Tottenham the first win of their Champions League campaign at CSKA Moscow.

The South Korean scored his fifth goal in five games to win the game, slotting in after collecting Erik Lamela's pass.

Spurs were sloppy in their opening-game loss to Monaco but were better in an entertaining game in Russia and could have won by more.

Dele Alli also hit the crossbar with a fierce 20-yard strike.

Spurs, who travelled to Russia without Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele, Moussa Sissoko and Harry Kane, had a couple of scares but deserved their win and can now head to face German side Bayer Leverkusen - who drew 1-1 at Monaco on Wednesday - with greater confidence.

Son shining

Son had a disappointing debut season for Spurs after joining the club in summer 2015 for a reported £22m from Leverkusen, scoring only eight goals in 41 appearances.

But he has hit the ground running this campaign, shouldering the goal-scoring burden for his side over the first few months with crucial strikes.

His input has become even more important as Harry Kane struggles for form and fitness and the England striker's current understudy Vincent Janssen strives to turn effort into impact.

Son followed up his two-goal displays in the league victories at Stoke and Middlesbrough with the winner on Tuesday - another neat finish that squirmed under the outstretched hand of home keeper Igor Akinfeev.

The 24-year-old could have made a hat-trick of braces for the season to ease Tottenham's nerves but after turning well in the box his shot was blocked.

Spurs learn quickly

The relief of the goal was clear to see in the Tottenham players, who had just started to show signs of frustration following 70 minutes during which they had plenty of possession but too often failed with their final ball or fired efforts off target.

In their opening game against Monaco they lacked concentration at the back and an inability to capitalise on chances at the other end, and there were echoes of this in Moscow.

As well as striking the bar, Alli also looped a header on to the roof of the net and failed to control a pass from deep after he had broken the offside trap.

Thankfully for the London side, CSKA do not possess Monaco's ruthless edge and wasted the good chances that came their way, Zoran Tosic twice curling shots wide of goal.

The Russians came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Leverkusen in their opening game, but they were managed well by Spurs after Son's goal to prevent another late rally.

Man of the match - Son Heung-min

What they said

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino: "We've played much better tonight [than against Monaco] but it was a tough game as it's always difficult to play here in Moscow. It was very important for us to get three points here as we were in a must-win position.

"We're in the race for the next round. It's a very important three points. But there's four games remaining to play and everything is still open.

"It is very important that not only Harry [Kane], who was good before his injury and scored, that now another player has scored and that is very important for the team.

"I feel very pleased for Sonny {Son Heung-min]. He is on fire and to keep this form is very important for us."

CSKA Moscow manager Leonid Slutsky: "We knew Spurs would have a lot of possession, would dominate us in that part of the game.

"The goal was marginally offside, maybe yes, maybe no, we have to see it again, but it doesn't matter. In second half we tried to attack more but we didn't take our chances and that's why we are here."

Son Heung-min gives injury-hit Tottenham Champions League victory at CSKA

Tottenham coped well despite injury problems to put its Champions League campaign back on track this morning with a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow.

Son Heung-min scored the winning goal, his fifth of the season, in the 71st minute to keep up his good form in the absence of injured Harry Kane.

Tottenham — missing five first-team regulars — bounced back from its opening loss to Monaco in Group E. Coach Mauricio Pochettino criticized his players' outlook following that defeat, but was full of praise after Tuesday's win made it four victories in a row since then.

"After Monaco, I think that our performance (is) about attitude, about passion, about playing how we need to play and how we feel," he said. "It was fantastic."

Goalscorer Son was frequently a substitute last season but has found himself elevated this campaign due to Kane's injury. With Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele and Moussa Sissoko also having missed the trip to Russia, Pochettino praised the team's strength in depth.

"Now you can see that all the players are key in the squad," he said. "You never know when a player will become key for the team ... In some specific moment, that player who doesn't play too much can be decisive."

Defeat was a blow for CSKA, which was celebrating the first European game at its new stadium, the 30,000-capacity Arena CSKA, ending six years spent at a temporary home in the Moscow suburbs.

Goalkeeper and captain Igor Akinfeev has not kept a clean sheet in the Champions League for 10 years and got a foot to Son's low shot, but couldn't stop it trickling over the line. Erik Lamela also deserved credit for his incisive through-ball to send Son clean behind the CSKA defense.

The goal came shortly after Pochettino had moved Son up into a center-forward role after taking off Vincent Janssen. CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky suggested Son may have been offside, saying the pass was, at the very least, "on the edge" of legality.

Dele Alli threatened to score for Tottenham in the first half, hitting the bar with a shot from range and heading off-target from a good position.

Slutsky typically favors defensive tactics in European games and today's fixture was no different as Spurs were allowed to dominate possession. After a quiet first half from CSKA, however, Zoran Tosic could have put the Moscow team ahead shortly after the break when he shot over Hugo Lloris' bar following a low cross from Lacina Traore.

CSKA pushed forward after Son's strike, but Mario Fernandes' shot across the face of goal was the closest the Russian team came to scoring. CSKA has a single point from its first group game, a draw against Bayer Leverkusen.

Despite the match being the first visit by an English club to Russia since violent clashes between fans from the two countries at the European Championship in June, there were no obvious signs of disorder in or around the stadium. Pochettino didn't address the issue directly but praised Tottenham's roughly 200 supporters for traveling to Moscow at a "very tough and a very difficult moment."