Carabao Cup: Second Round 

TOTTENHAM: 5 (Moore 41, Solanke 45, Danso 67, Savio 82, Davies 85) 
CHARLTON ATHLETIC 1 (Jones 87)

IT was all about the new winger: Savio, the £75 million signing who joined this morning (Wednesday) after 18 months of rumours, was given the easiest of starts in a Tottenham shirt.

Brought on with about 10 minutes remaining and Spurs leading Division One’s Charlton Athletic 3-0, Savio decided to get cracking: one goal and an assist within a minute.

A neat finish after a mazy, defender-twisting run in the 82nd minute announced his arrival with panache.

Spurs shook their awful opening Premier League game – a 3-0 defeat at Brentford – out of their legs, and coasted gently into the next round of the Carabao Cup, where they will face Liverpool at Anfield.

While Roberto De Zerbi must have enjoyed the immediate impact the Brazilian winger made, more importantly was seeing other first-teamers get minutes into their legs.

The line-up for Newcastle on Saturday will be much closer in personnel terms to De Zerbi’s project than the Frankenstein’s monster that got so badly turned over by the Bees.

Speaking after the game, De Zerbi said he had set a goal target for Savio to reach. He said: “It was a perfect day for him.

“I think his next big step is to improve the number of goals. He is one of the best wingers, but the very best score many goals. I spoke with him two days ago and we set the goal of scoring 10, 12 a season from the wing.

“Last season I think we suffered because the numbers of goals from the wing were not enough to compete.”

Before the game, the players gathered to pay their respects to Terry Dyson, the winger with an eye for the finish who played in Tottenham’s 1961 Double-winning side.

Savio then crafted a performance Dyson would thoroughly approve of.

As the Spurs fans said goodbye and thank you to one diminutive flankman, Savio’s second half debut saw him become an instant favourite.

He was a constant menace down the flank. His immediate rapport with right-back Pedro Porro will be one to watch this season.

While the final score was comprehensive, Charlton fought hard in the first half and were unlucky to lose two players early on to injuries: Billy Koumetio and Collins Sichenje saw their evenings cut short in the first 15. Despite this set back, Charlton went toe to toe and made the games two best openings in the opening 30.

De Zerbi opted for Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall as midfield holders, with Mateus Fernandes, making his home debut, supporting Dominic Solanke.

Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke were the only two of the new signings in the line-up, and it showed.

Mathys Tel, Tottenham’s busiest looking outlet, was on the end of some rough treatment. He looked the most likely of the forward line to get into dangerous positions, although Mikey Moore also worked his man a couple of times to earn corners.

But it felt like Charlton had got the measure of a slow start. Tottenham were simply not very good for much of the first half.

The breakthrough, which arrived on 41 minutes, changed that.

Moore cut inside and was helped by Charlton’s Ivan Mesik slipping, leaving him a little more space. He rifled a thunderbolt through the gloves of Tiernan Brooks

Spurs doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when Solanke pounced on the rebound off a Bergvall shot and swung home.

It put a gloss on a laboured 40 minutes.

Charlton had made 10 changes from their league match on the weekend – manager Nathan Jones called the tie “a distraction we did not need” – and Spurs knew they did not have to bust a gut to stay in the competition.

Tottenham toyed with their opponents and on 64, after a triple substitution saw Kevin Danso come on, the defender went straight up for a whipped in cross, and with his first touch of the game, headed home.

Savio came on with 20 to go and came with sprung heels and quickly got his name on the score sheet with a dribble across the face of the goal and a low drive.

He capped his night off with a goal-bound shot that struck Ben Davies on its way in, while Charlton scored a late consolation at the death.

Tottenham looked like they were easing themselves not only into the next round of the League Cup, but also into the season.

The side that finished on the pitch – with Micky van de Ven playing for the first time this term – is much more like the one that starts against Newcastle on Saturday.

Tottenham: Kinsky, Gray, van Hecke (Van de Ven, 64), Davies (Porro, 64), Udogie (Danso, 64), Bergvall, Bentancur, Fernandes, Moore, Solanke (Savio, 71), Tel (Williams-Barnett, 78)
Substitutes not used: Dubravka, Robertson, Gallagher, Richarlison

Charlton: Brooks, Asiimwe, Sichenje (McNamara, 14), Koumetio (Jones, 14), Mesik, Ouma (Mwamba, 66), Docherty, Apter, Knibbs (Leaburn, 65), Alli (Rankin-Costello, 64), Mbick
Substitutes not used: Okonkwo, Coventry, Carey, Tagoe