Tottenham Dominates as Savio Shines in 5-1 Victory

Tottenham had to be patient, but once they found the opening, Charlton were swept away.

For most of the first half, Spurs probed and pushed without landing the punch their dominance deserved. Then, just before the interval, the game flipped. Two goals in three minutes from Mikey Moore and Dominic Solanke sent Ange Postecoglou’s side – now under the stewardship of Roberto De Zerbi – into the break with a commanding 2-0 lead and all the oxygen sucked out of Charlton’s resistance.

Moore provided the breakthrough with a flash of individual brilliance, the teenager wriggling through challenges, showing strength and balance before finishing to cap the move. From there, his confidence surged. He kept demanding the ball, driving at defenders, and asking questions Charlton simply could not answer.

The pressure told again almost immediately. Solanke, who looks every inch the centre-forward De Zerbi will build around once he’s fully fit, added the second with a smart turn and finish. He dropped deep all evening, won foul after foul, and knitted Spurs’ attacks together, but it was the goal that underlined his class.

Second-half onslaught

Charlton’s brief hope of regrouping after the restart didn’t last. Spurs controlled the tempo, with Jan Paul van Hecke dictating calmly from the back. The Dutchman misplaced just six of his 96 passes and no player hit more balls into the final third, a measure of how aggressively Spurs built from deep before he was withdrawn midway through the second half.

Rodrigo Bentancur, rusty early on, grew into the contest once Spurs tightened their grip on possession. Strong in the tackle and assured under pressure, he began to dominate the midfield exchanges, while Lucas Bergvall used this outing to quietly reset after his difficult showing against Brentford, looking far more confident on the ball.

Destiny Udogie’s first start of the season brought valuable minutes as he builds back to full fitness. He hurled himself into challenges and gradually began to show the forward thrust that has become his trademark.

The set-piece that killed it

Any lingering doubt vanished on 67 minutes. Mateus Fernandes, on his full debut after an £85million summer move, had already shown flashes of his ability, gliding away from pressure and driving Spurs through the middle. This time, he stood over a free-kick and clipped in a delicate ball that begged to be attacked.

Kevin Danso, just on from the bench, obliged. With his very first touch, he rose to meet the delivery and buried his header, taking a whack to the head in the process but effectively ending the contest at 3-0. The only blemish on his night came late on, when Spurs’ defence finally cracked and Jones headed in to deny the clean sheet, much to the frustration of both Danso and goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

Kinsky had earlier produced a strong save in each half and could feel aggrieved to concede so late, while Ben Davies, largely untroubled throughout, had his own strange moment in front of goal still to come.

Savio steals the show

If the night belonged to anyone, though, it was Savio.

The £85million Brazilian arrived to huge cheers and wasted no time justifying the excitement. From the edge of the box, he drilled a powerful low strike into the corner for his first Spurs goal, a finish full of conviction and exactly the kind of end product De Zerbi has publicly demanded from him.

Spurs were rampant now. Pedro Porro’s introduction on the right gave them another dimension, his attacking instincts a sharp contrast to Archie Gray’s more cautious, hard-working display. Gray had offered plenty of running in support of Moore but rarely found the quality with his final ball and looked a touch hesitant when isolated against Millenic Alli. Charlton, though, barely managed to get the ball into dangerous areas once Spurs were in front.

The fifth goal summed up the mood. Savio again let fly, his shot taking a hefty deflection off Davies and wrong-footing the goalkeeper to make it 5-0. Officially, it goes down as a Davies goal, scored in the most innocuous fashion, but everyone inside the ground knew whose strike had created the chaos.

Mathys Tel, lively and heavily involved, did everything but score as Spurs ran riot in that spell. He will feel he should have joined the party on the scoresheet.

By the final whistle, Spurs had long since eased off, the contest reduced to a procession. The clean sheet slipped away at the death, yet the statement remained: De Zerbi’s side have firepower everywhere, a new £85million star already off the mark, and a teenager in Mikey Moore playing like he owns the stage.