Erik Lamela scored his first goal for Tottenham to put the Group K leaders ahead, before Jermain Defoe doubled the lead from the penalty spot to become their all-time leading scorer in European football.
Ismail Isa did reduce the arrears but Sheriff could not complete the comeback.
Anzhi Makhachkala are also on the verge of progression from Group K after midfielder Karlen Mkrtchyan’s 94th-minute goal gave them a 1-0 win at Tromso
Rubin Kazan secured their place in the next round with a 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic, Oleg Kuzmin's strike midway through the first half clinching the points for the Group D leaders.
Kuban Kransnodar denied Swansea City with a late goal for the second time in as many matches, Ibrahima Balde scoring two minutes into added time to put the Welsh side’s qualification on hold after Wilfried Bony had given them the lead.
The Italian side’s Group E rivals Dnipro are also through after beating Pacos Ferreira 2-0.
Attacker Chuli scored in the fourth minute of injury time to hand Real Betis a 1-0 triumph at Vitoria Guimaraes, and they now control Group I following Lyon’s 1-1 draw with Rijeka.
Betis' city rivals Sevilla suffered a setback as they could only draw 1-1 against Czech side Slovan Liberec, and Bundesliga outfit Freiburg played out a goalless stalemate at Estoril.
Midfielder Celso Ortiz scored the only goal of the game in AZ's 1-0 win over Shakhter Karagandy, while Dieumerci Mbokani’s sending off had no impact on Dynamo Kiev as they beat Thun 2-0.
