A Sebastien Haller brace and a late Felipe Anderson strike gave West Ham a timely lift with their first win of the season after a chaotic couple of weeks.
Haller scored twice in four first-half minutes before - despite pressure from an impressive Charlton side -Anderson sealed the Hammers’ place in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
David Moyes’s side began the season under a cloud after the sale of Grady Diangana sparked a furious reaction against the board, before an opening day defeat against Newcastle only added to the sense of doom. A loss at the hands of Lee Bowyer’s side could have plunged the club into full on crisis mode just two days into the season.
Moyes made ten changes from Saturday’s defeat but still had more than enough to secure a passage to the third round with more than £100million worth of talent making up his front three - all with a point to prove.
In Pictures | Carabao Cup second round action
There were others looking to make a case too, Manuel Lanzini has struggled under Moyes and showed a late spark in setting up Anderson’s goal but in truth still looks a shadow of the talent he was before injury two years ago. Fabian Balbuena was handed a rare chance and the captain’s armband.
One man who didn’t get his chance, however, was Jack Wilshere. The midfielder, fit again after more months of injury problems, is looking for a way out of the London Stadium but was not put in the window here, left out of the squad entirely.
Haller was handed his first start of the season - one he hopes will be a vast improvement on his first in English football - having missed the majority of the restart last term through injury. He looked to be picking up where he left off when, after a fine driving run from Ben Johnson, the Frenchmen hooked wide from six yards out.
However, the Haller the Hammers paid £45million to bring from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer emerged shortly afterwards with two goals in four minutes, the second spectacularly taken. Buoyed after tapping into an empty net from Andriy Yarmolenko’s cut back, Haller timed his leap perfectly at the far post to meet a wonderful, hanging cross from Robert Snodgrass and guide his header back across Ben Amos to get his season off to a strong start.
It could have been even better just two minutes later had he been able to latch onto Arthur Masuaku’s low cross, which flew just inches past the end of Haller’s boot.
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West Ham were finding space and playing with confidence, though Charlton weren’t for lying down as Jonny Williams fired an effort at Darren Randolph, who made a mess of the near post save but managed to only concede a corner. The visitors would not quite go away, Macauley Bonne so nearly getting on the end of Alfie Doughty’s cross to the far post before the break.
Bonne was replaced by Chunks Aneke at half-time and still they would not go away, Randolph called into action to smother a chance for the substitute before having to dive and stop a drive from Williams. West Ham were far from comfortable with their two goal cushion, Aneke bullying Issa Diop before Balbuena almost turned a header behind into his own net.
Despite their chances, Charlton should have had the game taken out of their hands when Lanzini cut back for Yarmolenko, who fired wide when he should really have hit the target from 10 yards.
West Ham were holding on, Charlton unable to capitalise on any of the chances they created before the hosts regained a touch of composure once more.
Josh Cullen - making his first West Ham start since April 2018 against the side where he spent the last two seasons on loan - was settling well at the base of midfield, always alive and ready to smother Charlton breaks before looking for progressive, impressive passes from deep to get the Hammers moving.
The hosts built up the pressure and finally broke through to make things far more comfortable when Lanzini, twisting and turning in the Charlton box, rolled square to Anderson to notch his first of what everyone hopes will be a season where the Brazilian really kicks on.
The third allowed Moyes to send on a couple of academy graduates for late minutes and relax knowing a first win was secured.
With a horrible run of Premier League fixtures coming, it may be a task to translate the cup form into their trip to Arsenal this weekend - but with League Cup games coming each midweek it could prove just the tonic to any league struggles early this season.