Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min celebrates after scoring against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim during the clubs' UEFA Europa League match at PreZero Arena in Sinsheim, Germany, Jan. 23. Reuters-Yonhap

Son Heung-min struck twice in Tottenham Hotspur's latest continental victory, pushing his club closer to the knockout phase.

Son grabbed a brace in Tottenham's 3-2 win over the German side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in their seventh league-phase match of the UEFA Europa League at PreZero Arena in Sinsheim, Germany, on Thursday (local time).

Spurs improved to 14 points from four wins, two draws and a loss with one match remaining in the current stage, good for sixth place.

Instead of a more conventional group stage setup, 36 clubs in the second-tier European competition were ranked in a joint group and were assigned eight opponents at random. The top eight teams will advance directly to the round of 16. Teams ranked from ninth to 24th will end up in the playoffs for the knockout phase, with the teams from ninth to 16th seeded for the draw. Clubs ranked from 25th to 36th will be eliminated.

Spurs have secured at least a spot in the playoffs as a seeded team. They will finish no lower than 16th, and they still have a shot at advancing to the last 16 automatically.

Son, who was subbed out in the 79th minute, now has 10 goals in all competitions this season, his ninth consecutive campaign of reaching double figures in goals.

James Maddison opened the scoring for Tottenham only three minutes in, and Son doubled the visitors' lead in the 22nd minute when his left-footed shot went in off the body of a defender.

Hoffenheim cut the lead in half in the 68th minute, but Son restored a two-goal advantage for his team nine minutes later with another left-footed shot.

David Mokwa scored for Hoffenheim in the 88th minute, but Spurs hung on for the key away victory. (Yonhap)