IT just had to be Randal Kolo Muani who kept Thomas Frank’s show on the road.
The France striker had missed Spurs’ flight over to Germany after crashing his Ferrari on the M25 on the way to Stansted airport on Tuesday.
But he ended up motoring Spurs into the last 16 of the Champions League with his clever finish here, which sub Dominic Solanke added to late on.
It had fans wondering whether it might just put the brakes on any decision by Spurs hierarchy to leave boss Thomas Frank by the roadside too.
The Dane is under serious pressure for failing to get Tottenham out of first gear domestically, dropping to 14th in the Premier League and out of both cups.
But in Europe, it has been a completely different story, just like last season under predecessor Ange Postecoglou.
Even the most ardent Frank-Out fan – and there are a lot of them among the Spurs fanbase – will have to admit he has done a stellar job in the Champions League.
Muani’s neat flick early into the second half at the Deutsche Bank Park sealed a top-eight finish in the group phase.
That is no mean feat given the calibre of clubs that did not make it.
Muani’s tyre blow-out had seen both himself and compatriot Wilson Odobert – who pulled over in a car behind to offer moral support – take a later flight to Frankfurt than the rest of the team on Tuesday night.
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Frank insisted both were in the right mind to play and they backed that claim up with impressive displays.
Muani has been a big disappointment in the Premier League since joining on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, failing to score and looking unhappy.
Juventus are keen to bring him back on loan themselves, but Spurs can ill-afford to lose many more players given their crock crisis.
Frank was missing FOURTEEN players here due to a mixture of injury and ineligibility, with key defenders Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven the latest crock victims.
Meanwhile Frankfurt, despite having nothing to play for, picked nearly as strong a side as they could, including 2014 World Cup final-winning goal-scorer Mario Gotze.
Spurs bossed the first half but could not make their dominance pay.
Xavi Simons, regularly booed for his Bundesliga past with RB Leipzig, thought he had given the visitors an early lead when firing in from close range.
Yet the goal was chalked off for a pull-back on a Frankfurt defender by an offside-looking Destiny Udogie in the build-up.
Udogie had the best chance of the first half when Muani floated in a tantalising cross which the Italian full-back rose to meet.
But the defender completely missed his header, catching Odobert, who was behind Udogie, by surprise, with the ball bouncing off the Frenchman’s chest and away.
Odobert then cracked a post with a super drive with his weaker left foot after a fine one-two with Simons, but again the ball escaped to safety.
Simons was alive to a poor pass out from Frankfurt keeper Kaua Santos – whose clattering on James Maddison in April had earned Spurs’ match-winning spot-kick – and showed some nifty feet to open up a chance, only for his cute shot to be cleared by Santos’ leg.
And yet, Frankfurt could have gone into the break 1-0 up, had Hugo Larsson hit the back of the net rather than the crossbar just before the interval.
Spurs capitalised on that close shave by quickly going ahead in the second half.
Captain Cristian Romero headed a Simons cross back across goal and there was Muani to delicately turn home.
Solanke, who netted the winner here in April’s Europa League quarter-final second leg that kept Postecoglou temporarily in a job, then wrapped things up.
He raced onto a loose Mahmoud Dahoud header and slotted into the far corner.
Muani’s strike was only his third goal for Spurs and came against his former team Eintracht, having netted his other two against his parent club PSG in November.
Losing 5-3 to the holders was no shame and the only defeat from Frank’s group-stage campaign which has undeniably – and perhaps inconveniently, for some – been a success.