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A new season at the snazziest modern stadium in England and something extremely welcome for Tottenham. A home win over domestic opposition. There were only four of them last season; three in the Premier League with the final one – over Everton on the last day – helping them to avoid relegation. Had they lost that, this Carabao Cup fixture against Charlton would also have been played in the Championship.
Spurs needed this tonic for another reason – to begin the clean-up operation after Saturday’s awful 3-0 defeat at Brentford. The season could not have started any worse. With no European football, a decent cup run or runs are imperative and Spurs got themselves up and running in this competition on a night when everything came together perfectly.
For a good while, it looked as though Mikey Moore was going to be the headline act. The homegrown 19-year-old broke the deadlock with a vicious drive from the edge of the area; it was the purity of the strike that made it. But then came Sávio.
Spurs were 3-0 up with further goals from Dominic Solanke and the substitute, Kevin Danso, when Roberto Di Zerbi sent on his £75m signing from Manchester City for his debut. It would be a devastating cameo from Sávio, something to wet the whistle for bigger challenges ahead.
It took him just 11 minutes to score and it was a lovely goal – a glide inside from the right and a fizzing low shot into the near corner. There was more. Sávio once again showcased his skills when slicing inside, putting one Charlton defender down with a feint and getting away from another. The shot hit his teammate, Ben Davies, and went in.
Charlton would have the last word when another substitute, Lloyd Jones, headed home from a corner. They deserved a goal. The major takeaway was the sense of possibility brought by Sávio.
De Zerbi has been honest about how his team have not been ready to start the Premier League season – a result of injuries, players returning late from the World Cup and a pre-season tour to New Zealand and Australia that was sub-optimal, to say the least. The sense with his selection was of the calvary returning.
The manager started Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mateus Fernandes and Solanke, players that were fit enough only for the bench at Brentford. Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven, who did not kick a ball in pre-season and were not available to face Brentford, were among the substitutes. There was no Marcos Senesi or Sandro Tonali in the squad.
De Zerbi’s idea was not to take chances. Whereas his Charlton counterpart, Nathan Jones, seemed to see it as a free hit. He made 10 changes to the team that he sent out for Saturday’s win at West Ham, which made it two Championship victories out of two for the season. Preston at home on Saturday was the priority.
The 6,000 travelling Charlton fans were determined to make themselves heard – even more so after their team lost both of their centre-halves, Collins Sichenje and Billy Koumetio, to injuries in the 15th minute. Sichenje was taken off on a stretcher in obvious distress.
Spurs were always going to dominate the ball. The question concerned what they could create with it. The answer at the outset was very little. De Zerbi’s starting shape was 4-3-3, Bentancur in the No 6 role flanked by Lucas Bergvall and Fernandes. Spurs did not threaten until the 30th minute when Solanke had a shot blocked and Archie Gray extended the goalkeeper, Tiernan Brooks, with a low prod on the rebound.
Charlton might have been in front by then. Greg Docherty exploded a drive through a crowd that Antonin Kinsky did well to save, and Nathan Asiimwe headed narrowly off target.
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Spurs upped the tempo after the Brooks save from Gray. Fernandes was good. There was a flicker from Mikey Moore, even if the end product was not there. Then it was. Gloriously. When Moore moved inside from the right, the Charlton player close to him – Millenic Alli – slipped. Moore knew what he had to do and the sweetness of the left-footed connection took the breath. The shot ripped through the hands of Brooks. The power was too much.
What Charlton did not need shortly afterwards was hesitant defending inside their box on a bouncing ball. Bergvall saw a shot blocked and Timothy Ouma seemed to freeze. When it broke for Solanke, he swept a clinical finish into the bottom corner.
Moore’s only other goal for Spurs was against Elfsborg in the Europa League in January 2025. After that game, his teammate, James Maddison, compared him to Neymar. Moore’s career trajectory has maybe not been as steep as once envisaged but he remains young. He wanted to do more in the second half and there was a swagger about him on the ball; some lovely skills and darting runs. The home crowd saluted him.
The Solanke goal took the sting out of the occasion. Spurs could relax after the interval. It was attack v defence; the question now whether they would score more. Gray worked Brooks again.
De Zerbi introduced Porro, Van de Ven and Danso. It was some entrance from the latter, his first touch a header past Brooks from Fernandes’s free-kick. He was bloodied into the bargain, caught in the aerial challenge by the Charlton substitute, Danny McNamara.
Sávio stood and watched, stripped and ready. When he entered the fray, he made his mark.
