Everton Secure 2-0 Victory Over Crystal Palace

Thierno Barry eased one of David Moyes’ biggest early-season headaches as Everton opened with a controlled 2-0 win over Crystal Palace – on a day when Goodison Park doubled as a political photo opportunity and a reminder of what this team might still be.

Everton find a cutting edge – at last

Moyes has spent the summer staring at a depth chart that frightens any manager: a forward line that scored just 18 league goals last season and no new striker through the door. Barry didn’t open his account until December in that campaign. This time he needed only one game.

The 23-year-old Frenchman’s second-half header, planted firmly down from five yards, wrapped up the points and briefly quietened the noise around Everton’s transfer inertia. It came from exactly the kind of urgency Moyes has been demanding. Hayden Hackney, on his Premier League debut, spotted the opportunity, took a quick free-kick and Iliman Ndiaye whipped in a teasing delivery that begged to be finished. Barry obliged.

By then, Everton were already in front and the mood inside Goodison had shifted. Season ticket-holder Andy Burnham was in the stands for the first time as Prime Minister, and the home side finally produced the sort of performance that had gone missing during last season’s seven-game winless run-in that killed their European hopes.

The breakthrough arrived just before the interval. After 38 minutes of familiar frustration, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall cut through the tension with a ruthless left-footed strike across Dean Henderson. One chance, one goal. Palace had dominated the opportunities; Everton landed the punch.

Palace waste chances, Everton punish them

For Moyes, the starting XI contained few surprises. Hackney was the one new face, anchoring midfield with a composure that belied the occasion. Merlin Rohl, a midfielder by trade, again patched up the problem right-back position.

The pattern early on, though, felt painfully familiar for the home crowd. Palace carved out the better openings and should have been ahead. Jean-Philippe Mateta stabbed wide from close range with the goal gaping – the kind of finish he usually buries – then rattled a post. Eddie Nketiah went even closer, his effort tipped brilliantly onto the same upright by an acrobatic Jordan Pickford.

The pressure finally told – just not in the way Palace expected. Dewsbury-Hall’s strike flipped the momentum. From that moment, Everton looked sharper, quicker, more certain of themselves. Ndiaye, constantly on the move between the lines, became the game’s most dangerous player, while Hackney’s range of passing started to stretch Palace in ways they had not faced in the opening half-hour.

Barry’s goal, born from that quick-thinking set-piece routine, underlined the change. One clean delivery, one decisive header. Simple, but devastating.

Questions for Moyes – and Sage

For all the positives, Moyes still has plenty to fix. The squad remains light up front, reliance on Barry and Beto is a risk, and Rohl at right-back is a sticking plaster rather than a solution. The win buys time, not answers.

On the opposite bench, Pierre Sage has his own problems. Palace arrived on Merseyside with a recent honours list Everton can only envy: an FA Cup and a Conference League title in the last two seasons, more than the Toffees have managed in 31 years. On another day, with cleaner finishing, they walk away 2-0 winners.

Instead, they left empty-handed and without Ismaila Sarr, absent amid reports he has refused to train as he tries to force a move to Galatasaray. The chances were there; the edge was not. Mateta’s misses, Nketiah’s denied effort, Igor Jesus’ wastefulness – they all fed into a familiar Premier League story. Take your chances or get punished.

Everton, for once, were the side doing the punishing. And as Moyes walked down the touchline to the sound of a satisfied Goodison, one question hung over the afternoon: has this been a brief respite, or the first sign that a misfiring attack is finally ready to wake up?