Everton Punishes Crystal Palace with 2-0 Victory

Andy Burnham took his place in the plush seats at Hill Dickinson Stadium, eyes fixed on a familiar blue shirt and a very unfamiliar situation. No new right-back. No new centre-forward. No late-window cavalry for David Moyes. Just Everton, patched up and under scrutiny, asked to make do.

They did more than that. They punished Crystal Palace.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, signed to change the mood as much as the midfield, ripped away any lingering gloom from last season with a stunning first-half strike. Thierno Barry, the forward whose place is under open threat if Everton land a striker before the deadline, buried a second-half header to seal a 2-0 win that grew more comfortable as the afternoon went on.

For Pierre Sage, this was a harsh Premier League baptism. His Palace side carved Everton open early, hit the same post twice and still left empty-handed. To compound it, he lost defender Chadi Riad late on to what looked a serious injury. Welcome to England’s top flight.

Palace waste their moment

Sage did not arrive with a grand tactical overhaul. Palace lined up in a familiar shape, and their early play carried the same pattern that haunted the end of the Oliver Glasner era: neat, structured, and toothless when it mattered.

The visitors were sharper from the first whistle. With barely three minutes gone, Everton’s new captain James Tarkowski misjudged a header and opened the door. Eddie Nketiah sprinted clear down the left, squared for Jean-Philippe Mateta, and the away end rose, expecting the net to bulge. Mateta volleyed over from close range.

Everton survived. Palace kept coming.

Adam Wharton then produced the kind of pass that explains why Sage is so adamant he is “going nowhere” despite Manchester City’s interest. From midfield, he dropped a perfectly judged ball over Merlin Röhl, the young German asked to plug the gaping hole at right-back while Everton’s search for Seamus Coleman’s successor drags on. Nketiah brought it down, had time, picked his spot. Jordan Pickford flung out his left hand and tipped the shot on to the post.

The same upright saved Everton again. Wharton combined with Dwight McNeil, back at his old ground in different colours, and Nketiah to release Mateta in front of goal. At full stretch, the France international beat Pickford but not the woodwork. Three big chances. No goals. The tension in the away end grew. So did the sense inside the stadium that Everton would not be so generous.

Dewsbury-Hall ignites Everton

Up to that point, Everton’s threat had been sporadic. The home side, with summer signings Hayden Hackney, Tyrique George and Röhl all starting, looked energetic but short on ideas in the final third.

There were flashes. Dewsbury-Hall slipped a clever pass into Röhl’s path, the midfielder squared, and Iliman Ndiaye forced Dean Henderson into a sharp save. George probed on the left, always busy, always looking to commit his man, but Palace largely contained him.

Then the game tilted.

Dewsbury-Hall, quiet for half an hour, suddenly came alive. He weaved through midfield, cut inside and let fly, his shot striking Chris Richards and prompting loud appeals for handball. Play rolled on. Daniel Muñoz, a possible answer to Everton’s right-back problem, tried to stride out down Palace’s right. Harrison Armstrong hunted him down, nicked the ball, and Palace’s shape briefly collapsed.

Armstrong spotted the gap. Dewsbury-Hall drifted into it, 27 years old and unmarked on the edge of the box. The pass arrived, and with one sweeping, angled drive he sent the ball screaming into Henderson’s far corner. No doubt. No hesitation. Everton’s season began with a goal of real authority.

Palace almost hit back before the interval. Muñoz ghosted in front of George to meet a fine cross from Daichi Kamada, only to guide his header wide of the far post. Again, the build-up was slick. Again, the finish was missing.

By then, the pattern was set. Palace played, Everton punished. And with every wasted chance, the pressure on Sage’s new regime tightened another notch.