Sherwood made his first return to White Hart Lane since his six-month managerial tenure finished at the end of last season and saw his Villa side pick up maximum points thanks to Christian Benteke's fifth goal in his last three games.
The Belgian headed Leandro Bacuna's cross past Michel Vorm before the interval, with Carlos Sanchez's late dismissal failing to throw Villa off course.
Having helped Villa move a step closer to Premier League safety, Sherwood told Sky Sports: "The win is the most important but it is a sweet victory coming back. You always want to do well when you come back to a club.
"The emotion is overwhelming joy for the football club. To come to a tough place like White Hart Lane against a team who have a great record here and are going well in the division and pick up three points is magnificent.
"I thought we deserved it. I wouldn't care if we didn't deserve it as long as we got [the points].
"We carried on from the [3-3 draw] against QPR in midweek.
"I thought we played excellently that night but we didn't get what we deserved.
"We came here and thought we could have a go at Tottenham. That's what we did. I think we deserved to win."
