Tottenham responded to their opening-day defeat in the Premier League by booking their spot in the third round of the EFL Cup following a 5-1 thrashing of Charlton Athletic.

After being thumped 3-0 by Brentford last Saturday, Mikey Moore, Dominic Solanke, Kevin Danso, debutant Savio and Ben Davies helped seal a first victory of 2026-27.

Despite dominating possession, Spurs failed to test Charlton goalkeeper Tiernan Brooks in a stop-start 20 minutes that saw Billy Koumetio and Collins Sichenje go off injured.

But it was Nathan Jones' side who twice came close to opening the scoring in quick succession, with Greg Docherty's first-time strike from distance calling Antonin Kinsky into action before Nathan Asiimwe headed just wide from the resulting corner. 

However, Spurs took the lead four minutes before half-time through Moore, who cut inside from the right-hand side before unleashing a fierce effort into the roof of the net. 

And before the break, Solanke doubled Spurs' lead with an instinctive finish into the bottom-left corner after Charlton defender Timothy Ouma failed to clear his lines. 

The hosts continued to try to add to their tally as Mathys Tel twice went close and Gray forced another stop from Brooks, but Spurs did get their third in the 67th minute. 

Just two minutes after replacing Rodrigo Bentancur, Danso met Mateus Fernandes's corner with a brave, glancing header that saw the defender require treatment afterwards. 

Roberto De Zerbi then introduced £85m summer signing Savio for the final 19 minutes, and it did not take him long to get up and running as he cut inside before picking out the bottom-right corner with a fine finish in the 82nd minute. 

Savio thought he had grabbed a debut double three minutes later when his shot from inside the box squeezed past Brooks, but replays showed his strike deflected off Davies and into the net, with Lloyd Jones heading in an 87th-minute consolation for Charlton. 

Into round three! pic.twitter.com/6D7yZVUCKm

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 26, 2026

Moore impresses again for five-star Spurs

Spurs have strengthened in the forward areas with the addition of Savio from Manchester City, while Omar Marmoush is also expected to complete his move to north London in the coming days, but Moore once again looked like his team's biggest attacking threat. 

After finishing with team-high totals for shots (three) and touches in the opposition box (five) against Brentford, Moore dazzled again at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a goal and an assist, while no player completed more dribbles (three) or won more duels (seven) for Spurs than the 19-year-old. 

Moore spent the 2025-26 season on loan at Rangers, registering seven goals and four assists in 47 appearances in all competitions, and it has been reported he is set for another loan spell this term, though De Zerbi may be having second thoughts after his display here. 

But for Spurs, it was a much-needed win ahead of facing Newcastle United this Saturday. They have now won seven of their last eight EFL Cup home matches, with the only defeat during this period coming against Chelsea in the semi-final of the 2021-22 edition.

De Zerbi's side were deserving of their win, too. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.09 from their 20 shots to Charlton's 0.36 from their six attempts in a match that will please the Spurs boss, given the impact of his new number 17 Savio.