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 time out; 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 story.

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 De Zerbi sent on his £75m signing from Manchester City for his debut. It was a devastating cameo from Sávio, something to wet the whistle for the bigger challenges ahead. “A perfect day for him,” De Zerbi said.

It took Sávio just 11 minutes to score and it was a lovely goal – a glide inside from the right, his markers close and yet nowhere near, his control of the situation total before the fizzing low finish into the near corner. De Zerbi has said he wants end product from Sávio, especially goals and he challenged him afterwards to score 10-12 before the end of the season. This was a good start. There was more.

Once again, it was Sávio on the right, cutting back, closer to goal this time. He put one would-be challenger down and skated around another. It was all about the composure. The shot hit his teammate, Ben Davies, and went in. The goal was credited to Davies, who was pretty unapologetic about it.

The Charlton manager, Nathan Jones, made wholesale changes to his preferred lineup – 10 in total from Saturday’s win at West Ham – and it was a difficult evening for his team. “Absolutely disastrous,” as he put it. “This was a game we didn’t need.” Charlton did enjoy the last word when another substitute, Lloyd Jones, headed home from a corner.

The major take-away was the sense of possibility brought by Sávio, with De Zerbi insisting he was not daunted by being drawn to face Liverpool at Anfield in the next round. “It’s a great game,” he said. “If we want to win the competition, we have to win these games.”

It was a night when there was a focus on De Zerbi’s selection. There was a sense 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 for Brentford, were among the substitutes. They got on. There was no Marcos Senesi or Sandro Tonali in the squad. They will be ready for Newcastle here on Saturday.

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. 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 while Nathan Asiimwe headed narrowly off target.

Spurs upped the tempo after the Brooks save from Gray. Fernandes impressed. There was a flicker from 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.

What Charlton did not need shortly afterwards was hesitant defending inside their box on a bouncing ball. Lucas 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 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. He remains a loan target for FC Köln before the transfer window shuts. As De Zerbi acknowledged, he needs regular football.

De Zerbi introduced Porro, van de Ven and Danso after Gray had once again worked Brooks. It was some entrance from Danso, his first touch a header past Brooks from Fernandes’ free-kick. He was bloodied into the bargain, caught in the aerial challenge by the Charlton substitute, Danny McNamara. Sávio stood and watched. He was stripped and ready while Danso had treatment. He had to wait. When he got on, he more than made his mark.