Despite missing five key players, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was still able to name a strong line-up as Spurs played their first ever Champions League match in the Russian capital.
The English side started well and dominated possession but CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who was looking for his first clean sheet in 39 Champions League encounters, was largely untroubled early on
Zoran Tosic should have done better for the hosts just after the half hour mark as he blazed over with his left foot from the edge of the penalty area.
Minutes later, Dele Alli grazed the top of the crossbar with an excellent drive from distance with Akinfeev beaten.
Tottenham continued to press after the break, with CSKA happy to sit back on the counter-attack. However, the Army Men lacked any pace to cause Spurs any significant problems when breaking.
The north London side took a deserved lead after 71 minutes through the in-form Son. The South Korean international, who scored twice in Saturday's 2-1 league win at Middlesbrough, just managed to get enough power on his shot to take it past Akinfeev.
The hosts pushed for an equalizer, but Hugo Lloris was largely untroubled, aside from a swerving Roman Eremenko shot from distance, as Tottenham get their Champions League campaign back on track with a valuable three points in Moscow.
(Reporting By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy; Editing by Brian Homewood)
