What a difference a week makes for Antonio Conte and Tottenham Hotspur.
The inadvertent side-effect of Arsenal getting Sunday's north London derby postponed was that it handed Conte and his coaches another full week of working with the players on the pitches at Hotspur Way.
The result was a performance that was far closer to what the Italian wants from his men and it was a display born on the training ground with a clear, implemented plan.
Ahead of the match, the names of midfield trio of Harry Winks, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp on the teamsheet brought back memories of that dreadful display at Crystal Palace under Nuno Espirito Santo when chances created were few and far between for Spurs in a dismal 3-0 defeat.
Yet this time, within Conte's system and against a patched-up Leicester side, it worked. Spurs had 27 shots on goal on Wednesday night, with 10 of them on target.
Then came that dramatic finale, which in truth Tottenham should never have needed if they had put away their earlier chances.
Albeit on a far, far smaller scale, there was something Amsterdam-esque about the nature in which Spurs ended the game, their players showing a ridiculous composure as the final seconds ebbed away.
In the end, it was two players linked with the exit door who came up trumps for Conte.
Matt Doherty came on at half-time for the ineffective Emerson Royal and the 30-year-old looked like a man more comfortable in the right wing-back role.
The Republic of Ireland international has been played out of position on the left in recent games and spent much of his time at the club as a right-back despite being a wing-back at Wolves for much of his career.
Back in his natural role on Wednesday night, he caused problems for Leicester with his movement and ultimately it was his perfectly-timed run that took him into the box to collect Hojbjerg's pinpoint pass and the Irishman's inadvertent assist brought Steven Bergwijn his first goal of the night, with a powerful half-volley.
Spurs were not done though. Harry Kane, who had looked far more his old self on the night, scuffled with Kasper Schmeichel in the net for the ball to get it back to the halfway line.
Leicester were the architects of their own downfall from that kick-off, Youri Tielemans' dreadful pass cut out by Hojbjerg and Tottenham were ready to cash in.
The Dane played it quickly to Kane, who weighted an excellent ball into the path of Bergwijn. The Dutchman took a slightly heavy touch around Schmeichel but his finish - just 79 seconds after his first - was perfect, placing it from a tight angle in the one place the covering Caglar Soyuncu could not reach, the ball rolling in off the left-hand post. It was very similar to Kane's excellent finish in the first half.
As the ball crossed the line, the Spurs players, the bench and the fantastically noisy away fans erupted. Even Hugo Lloris ran the length of the pitch to join in the wild celebrations. The sight of Lucas Moura using a steward as a step ladder to celebrate, before whipping a woolly hat off one fan and throwing it back at him was a memorable image.
When the final whistle sounded moments after the restart, the players wanted to get back to those fans who had kept pushing them throughout, eager to reconnect again with them after such a dramatic triumph. Kane ran across the pitch to enjoy the moment again with them and his team-mates and even Conte joined in.
There was a little more on top of the happiness for those players as well as football.london understands Conte had promised them time off next week if they could beat the Foxes at the King Power Stadium.
The players have barely had a day off in the past month due to the fixture schedule and Conte's desire to improve their fitness and understanding of his methods and game plans.
He promised them that if they could win their first game in hand on Wednesday night then they would get some well-earned days off in the first half of international break next week.
If they can get another positive result at Chelsea on Sunday then they will add more days on top.
Conte has worked the players hard. He had to and the results are there to see, particularly in the Premier League where the Italian is still unbeaten in his nine games since arriving in N17.
The difference with plenty of players is there, with Kane in particular looking rejuvenated.
His goal was classic Kane - the run, the turn inside and the marksman finish. He should have had a hat-trick on the night, sending one unmarked header against the crossbar and another shot flying over when running through.
Most importantly he's giving everything to the cause. The best possible evidence of that was a lung-busting run back from the Leicester box in the second half to help stop a Foxes break that saw him clear the ball inside his own box.
He was breathing heavily as the game wore on but still had enough quality for that crucial, top drawer threaded pass into the run of Bergwijn for the last-gasp winner.
Hojbjerg put in his best performance in a while in the centre of the pitch with his break-up play and his part in both of the late goals.
Bergwijn and Doherty both put in cameo performances that could help them in different ways.
The match-winning Dutchman only cemented Conte's view that Spurs cannot afford to let him go this month, having already rejected Ajax's £15m bid.
"In the past when someone asks me about Steven Bergwijn I was very clear," he said.
"I said that for me he is an important player because he has characteristics that in our squad we don’t have many creative players.
He is very good in one vs one, good to beat the man. He can play striker, he can play number 10 and for us, for me, he is an important player and we have to try to improve, to become stronger, not to lose a player and become less strong.
"Steven is a player that if he’s in good physical condition and he has good fitness he can start the games or he can come in and change the game. For me I think he’s an important player and you know very well the player has to be happy and I think the player is happy to stay with us and play for Tottenham."
For Doherty, he showed he can still be the raiding right wing-back Spurs thought they were getting from Wolves 16 months ago.
However, whether it ends up being a shop window performance for the Irishman will become clear in the days ahead.
There is a certain irony that both Bergwijn and Doherty proved once again that, given a chance, they have a better end product - and their career stats bear it out - than Adama Traore, a man Spurs are hoping to bring in before the January deadline closes.
One negative on the night was another shaky display from the patched-up defence but Conte is on the verge of having his first choice backline fit again, with Cristian Romero and Eric Dier nearing a return.
The fortnight following the Chelsea match is going to be a key one for Conte, with that duo set to return and Son Heung-min will edge closer to his comeback.
When the players all come back from their days of rests and golfing holidays, Conte will have the bulk of his squad to work with on the training pitches ahead of the FA Cup tie against Brighton.
Only Giovani Lo Celso, Davinson Sanchez and Royal are heading off on international duty, for Argentina, Colombia and Brazil respectively.
Romero and Son have been left out of the Argentina and South Korea's World Cup qualifiers as they continue their recoveries.
Although, worryingly for Tottenham, the South Korea coach Paulo Bento has not ruled out trying to call up Son for the crunch qualifiers against Lebanon and Syria at the end of the month.
"For Son and Hwang (Hee-chan) who have physical issues, I'll keep considering on them," he said on Thursday.
"It's important to make the decision at the right timing, we don't have to make decision now."
That would not likely go down well at Spurs as they try to nurse Son back to health after his hamstring injury.
Conte will also hope that he has new faces to work with in that second week at Hotspur Way.
There was another plea on Wednesday night for the club to make new signings.
"In this moment I think we are in a good position in the table but we know it will be very difficult to keep this position and try to fight for something important," he said.
"We have to try to continue to work, to improve and if there is the possibility in this transfer market to improve also numerically the number of this squad it will be very important because we need to try to."
football.london understands that Spurs are confident that they will make at least one addition to Conte's squad before the window closes, if not more.
Managing director of football Fabio Paratici was back in his usual transfer window public pose of walking around the pitch with his wired earphones in, speaking on his phone, before Wednesday night's match.
The Italian could well have been speaking to an agent, another club or even simply checking on his friends or family, but he will know he needs to deliver something before Monday January 31 comes to a close.
Paratici spent a whole summer trying to find players who fit Espirito Santo's demands and now he needs to start to shape a very different squad for Conte.
That the head coach is already making his feelings known publicly piles on the pressure because one thing is for sure, Conte will not be quiet if Spurs fail to add to his squad and fingers will be pointed.
It was notable that in the first half there were some chants of 'Levy out' aimed at the club's chairman from the frustrated travelling Tottenham faithful.
Tottenham also need to get players out of the door but in a way that does not weaken the squad. It's a balancing act that Paratici must get right.
Both Conte and Paratici would ideally like a new right wing-back and striker, with the former also having asked for a central midfielder if possible.
It is strange that with Conte having admitted on Wednesday night that "in our squad we don't have many creative players", there was no plea for a couple of those, unless the central midfielder asked for is a deep-lying playmaker.
Traore remains a target for Tottenham even if some noises have started to emerge from Wolves of keeping him until the summer.
Spurs are believed to be keen on a loan deal with an obligation to buy in order to free up funds for other transfers, but ultimately there is a belief that £20m will secure the signature of the speedy Spaniard who Conte will look to convert into a wing-back.
The futures of Doherty, Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele remain unclear in the final 11 days of the window.
Doherty has been linked with a move back to Wolves, Alli once again was unused on the bench under another Spurs manager and Ndombele was left out entirely, continuing to train alone at Hotspur Way with a conditioning coach.
The problem with them is garnering interest in their services, clubs being able to afford their wages or potential transfer or loan fees and restrictions on what clubs some of the players can go to or want to go to.
Spurs have long had a problem with selling players and it's one that has always had a knock-on effect on their incoming deals, whether it's finance-related or simply having a bloated squad in certain areas.
Tottenham were once a team that sold their stars for big fees and upset the fans. Perhaps through fear of repeating that, they're now a team that keeps their players for too long and ends up struggling to offload them. If they do eventually it's for very little money, which also upsets the fans.
The coming summer will be the crunch transfer window for Conte and Spurs but with his team sitting fifth and the chance to climb all the way up to third if they were to win three of their four games in hand over Chelsea, it must be tempting to see what they can achieve this season.
Sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate and with one or two of the right additions in the remaining 11 days of the window - plus Conte's undoubted coaching ability - Tottenham could not only start putting in the foundations for his reign but also achieve something now.
It's got to be a calculated risk worth taking.
