Alli, rapidly developing into the brightest young diamond in the Premier League, was hailed as "fantastic" by manager Mauricio Pochettino after proving the game-changer in a 1-0 win that took the Londoners up to second in the table.
The 19-year-old had a dizzy spell against Norwich City, forcing Pochettino to take him off at halftime in midweek.
Playing safe in case there were any lingering ill-effects, Spurs decided to keep their starlet on the bench against Watford and eventually he was let loose as dominant Spurs could find no way past their former keeper Heurelho Gomes.
Within three minutes of entering the fray just after the hour, Alli demonstrated the gift that sets him apart, arrowing a delightful pinpoint cross from the left with the outside of his foot for Kieran Trippier to tap the ball home at the far post.
It was a well-deserved first goal for the club for the excellent Trippier but he was the first to credit his young team mate.
"Everyone knows Dele's ability and he changed the game," Trippier told the BBC.
The win propelled Spurs into a heady position, five points adrift of leaders Leicester City who gave Pochettino's men hope for their own trip to the Etihad Stadium next week by beating Manchester City 3-1 earlier on Saturday.
Explaining his decision to omit Alli from the starting lineup, Pochettino explained: "It's clear it's very important to look after our players and sometimes you have to take the right decision.
"On Tuesday he was dizzy. Dele Alli is a fantastic player, an important player for us, but we need to look after him because he's still very young."
The Argentine was "proud" of all his players but called for "calm" in the excitement of their title push.
"We still need to be more clinical, we created a lot of chances today but need to score more," said Pochettino.
(Reporting by Ian Chadband)
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