Thierno Barry scores as Everton start season with win over Crystal Palace

Thierno Barry scored in Everton’s comfortable 2-0 Premier League victory over Crystal Palace to give manager David Moyes one less thing to worry about – for now.

The Frenchman took until December last season to score his maiden goal for the club but with no reinforcements for a strikeforce – together with Beto – which netted only 18 goals in 2025-26, an early breakthrough for the 23-year-old was a welcome boost for Moyes, who is less than happy with the club’s transfer business.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had made the breakthrough late in the first half as Everton celebrated season ticket-holder Andy Burnham’s first visit as Prime Minister with a morale-boosting victory after last term’s final seven games without a win cost them a chance of a return to European football.

There was little freshness in terms of Moyes’ starting line-up, aside from new signing Hayden Hackney in the holding midfield role, with midfielder Merlin Rohl filling the troublesome right-back slot.

And there was a familiar feeling to the opening 38 minutes as Jean-Philippe Mateta stabbed wide the kind of close-range chance he would usually bury and also hit a post – the same upright Eddie Nketiah saw Jordan Pickford acrobatically tip his shot onto.

But the momentum changed when Dewsbury-Hall lashed home left-footed across Dean Henderson and the second half was a completely different story.

Barry’s downward header from five yards came from greater urgency on the ball, which saw Hackney’s quickly-taken free-kick whipped in with very little fuss by Iliman Ndiaye.

Ndiaye looked the sharpest and Hackney appeared composed enough on his Premier League debut but there are still a number of issues for the Everton boss to address.

So too his Palace counterpart