Savio scores twice as Tottenham ease past Charlton in Carabao Cup

Savio marked his Tottenham debut with two goals as Roberto De Zerbi’s side beat Charlton Athletic 5-1 to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup.

The Brazilian winger came on as a substitute and made an immediate impact, taking only 11 minutes to get on the scoresheet. He cut in from the right, beat two defenders and sent a low finish into the bottom corner.

De Zerbi was pleased with Tottenham’s attacking performance and said scoring goals would be vital to the club’s ambitions this season.

“Yes, we need goals, we need to create chances to score,” the Tottenham manager said. “To become a top team, we need many things, but one of these many things is to score, to be stronger when we are attacking in the last 30 metres.”

Savio’s contribution was particularly encouraging for De Zerbi, who believes the winger can develop into a more prolific player.

“It is a perfect day for him,” De Zerbi said. “I think his biggest step, his biggest improvement is to increase the number of goals because with his qualities, he is one of the best wingers. But the best wingers score many goals.”

The Tottenham manager has set Savio and the club’s other wide players a target of between 10 and 12 goals for the campaign.

“I spoke with him yesterday, two days ago. We put the goal on 10-12 goals because we need 10-12 goals from the wingers,” De Zerbi said.

Mikey Moore was another standout performer for Tottenham, opening the scoring with an excellent finish. Dominic Solanke then doubled the advantage four minutes later.

De Zerbi welcomed Moore’s performance but said Tottenham still had to determine the best next step for the academy graduate, with regular first-team football an important consideration.

“It is important for him, it is important for us because he is our player from the academy,” he said. “I would like to keep him because he is young, but a good player, but we can’t make the wrong decision because he needs to play and put games inside of him.”

Kevin Danso added Tottenham’s third shortly after coming off the bench, scoring with his first touch. He headed Mateus Fernandes’ free-kick into the net.

Fernandes was making his first competitive start for Tottenham and also earned praise from De Zerbi, who said the midfielder could operate in more than one role.

“Mateus Fernandes is another talent, big talent,” he said. “We are lucky because he can cover two positions on the pitch, like as a pivot or number 10.”

Rodrigo Bentancur was also singled out after making his first competitive start of the season. De Zerbi said the midfielder’s influence is significantly greater when he is fully fit and physically ready.

“I think today Rodrigo Bentancur played very well,” De Zerbi said. “When Rodrigo Bentancur is fit, is available, is in the right physical condition, he is a different player, because his understanding is great.”

Savio produced the highlight of the evening with his debut goal before scoring again when his second attempt took a deflection off Ben Davies and went in, putting Tottenham 5-0 ahead.

Charlton scored a late consolation through Lloyd Jones, but the result had already been settled and Tottenham comfortably secured their place in the third round.

There was brief concern when Micky van de Ven and Danso appeared to suffer head knocks. De Zerbi, however, said neither incident involved a serious injury.

“Nothing. It was a normal situation on the pitch, but nothing important,” he said.

The victory gave Tottenham more than just progress in the Carabao Cup. Savio made an emphatic introduction, Moore demonstrated his quality, Solanke opened his scoring account and a number of returning players gained valuable match minutes.