LONDON: Savio scored on his Tottenham Hotspur debut and was then challenged by manager Roberto De Zerbi to hit double figures for the season as Spurs advanced to a third-round League Cup tie with Liverpool following a comfortable 5-1 win over Charlton on Wednesday.
Spurs, four-times winners of the League Cup, started their Premier League season with a humiliating 3-0 loss away to Brentford last weekend.
But it was a different story at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with two goals in four minutes late in the first half from Mikey Moore and Dominic Solanke leaving the hosts in command.
Substitute Kevin Danso scored with his first touch, meeting a free-kick with a flicked header in the 67th minute.
Brazilian winger Savio, who joined Spurs for a reported initial fee of 75 million ($102 million) from Manchester City, came off the bench and started to repay some of that outlay when he ran inside and beat two defenders before letting fly with an 82nd-minute shot inside the near post.
Barely three minutes later the player formerly known as Savinho paved the way for his side’s fifth goal when his shot deflected in off Spurs captain Ben Davies’s thigh.
Second-tier Charlton did manage a consolation goal against their London rivals when defender Lloyd Jones headed in from a corner.
“Yes, it is a perfect day for him,” De Zerbi said of Savio.
“I spoke with him and we put the goal on 10 or 12 goals (target) because we need 10 or 12 goals from the wingers.
“Last season we suffered too much because also the number of goals were not enough to compete for nothing more than that (17th) position.”
The nine Premier League teams that are playing in Europe — Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Sunderland — all enter the League Cup in the third round.
The draw for that took place after Wednesday’s games, with Spurs away to Liverpool in one of a possible six all-Premier League ties that will see Andrew Robertson make a quick return to Anfield following his summer move to Tottenham.
Elsewhere, Harvey Barnes scored twice against his old club on Wednesday as Newcastle United edged Championship side West Brom Albion 3-2.
Everton were too strong for Preston, winning 4-0 away to the club where Toffees boss David Moyes made his name as a manager, with Thierno Barry scoring a hat-trick.
Everton were drawn at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, who finished bottom of the Premier League last season.
In Wednesday’s other League Cup tie, third-tier leaders Bradford beat Burnley, also relegated from the Premier League last season, 4-2 on penalties following a goalless draw, with no extra time at this stage of the competition.
Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2026
