Thierno Barry Eases Everton Anxiety with Win Over Palace

Thierno Barry needed until December to get off the mark last season. This time, he has spared David Moyes a few sleepless nights before August is out.

The 23-year-old Frenchman’s close-range header sealed a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Goodison Park, a scoreline that soothed some of the tension around an Everton side that scored just 18 league goals in 2025-26 and have failed to strengthen their forward line beyond Barry and Beto. Moyes has made no secret of his frustration with the club’s transfer business. At least his main striker has started early.

On a day when season ticket-holder Andy Burnham took his seat in the directors’ box for the first time as Prime Minister, Everton finally produced the kind of performance their home crowd has been craving after a winless final seven games of last term cost them a tilt at Europe.

Dewsbury-Hall swings it, then Everton wake up

The team sheet hardly screamed “new era”. Hayden Hackney came in as the holding midfielder, while Merlin Rohl was again asked to plug the problem position at right-back. The rest felt familiar – and so did the pattern of the opening half-hour.

Palace, under Pierre Sage and with a recent haul of silverware that Everton can only envy – an FA Cup and a Conference League title in the last two seasons – carved out the better chances. Jean-Philippe Mateta somehow stabbed wide from close range, the kind of chance he usually buries, and then smacked the post. Eddie Nketiah went even closer, his effort brilliantly tipped onto the same upright by an acrobatic Jordan Pickford.

Everton looked flat, Palace confident. Then the game flipped.

On 38 minutes, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall seized on a rare lapse and drove a left-footed shot across Dean Henderson and into the far corner. One clean strike, and Goodison’s mood changed in an instant.

The goal jolted Everton into life. Passes were sharper, runs more aggressive, the hesitancy that had stalked them late last season suddenly replaced by intent.

Barry delivers, but issues linger

The pressure finally told again after the break. Hackney, tidy and unfazed on his Premier League debut, spotted a quick free-kick and moved the ball on without fuss. Iliman Ndiaye whipped in a teasing delivery, and Barry attacked it with conviction, bouncing a downward header into the net from five yards.

It was a classic centre-forward’s goal, the kind Everton have lacked for far too long.

Ndiaye looked the sharpest attacker on the pitch, drifting into pockets, demanding the ball, while Hackney’s calm presence at the base of midfield offered a hint of balance. Moyes, though, will know one win does not solve everything. The squad remains thin, the attack still light on proven goals.

Palace have their own problems. Sage had to do without Ismaila Sarr amid rumours the winger had refused to train in a bid to force a move to Galatasaray. Even so, his side created enough to take something – maybe everything – from the game. With more ruthless finishing, it could easily have been Palace celebrating a 2-0 away win rather than trudging off wondering how they left with nothing.

For Everton, the questions about recruitment and long-term direction remain. But on a politically symbolic afternoon at Goodison, they at least found a striker, a performance, and a result to cling to.

Portman Road has waited a long time for a day like this. Ninety minutes into their Premier League return, Ipswich were seconds from a respectable draw. Jack Clarke had other ideas.

The substitute punished a dreadful late pass from Sunderland’s Omar Alderete, cutting inside and curling a precise finish into the bottom corner in the 90th minute to seal a 2-1 win and ignite pandemonium in a stadium starved of top-flight joy. It was only Ipswich’s second Premier League home victory in 24 years. No wonder it felt like a release.

This was the first competitive outing for Gary O’Neil since he replaced Kieran McKenna in June, and he threw himself straight into the job with six full debutants and 12 summer signings behind him. The ambition is clear: follow the path of their visitors, who finished seventh on their own return to the top flight in 2025-26.

Early on, Sunderland threatened to play the seasoned campaigners. Within four minutes, Trai Hume had too much time to pick out Brian Brobbey, only for Leif Davis to race back and produce a vital block. Debutant goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen then had a nervy moment on the ball before Ipswich finally settled.

When they did, they struck. Emersonn, already a nuisance with an early header that troubled Robin Roefs, opened the scoring in the 24th minute – but the move belonged to Julio Enciso. The former Brighton forward, back after an impressive six-month loan last year, intercepted Luke O’Nien’s pass, glided past O’Nien and Dan Ballard, and then unselfishly squared for Emersonn to slide home. A flash of quality that hinted at what Enciso might bring across a full season.

Sunderland responded with a moment of their own. Just before half-time, Granit Xhaka drew a free-kick on the edge of the area. Nilson Angulo stepped up and produced a stunning strike, whipping the ball over the wall and in via the crossbar in the 39th minute. 1-1 at the break, and fully deserved.

Ipswich came out with renewed purpose. Abdul Fatawu twice threatened to carve open a second goal, driving the hosts forward as both managers dipped into their benches in search of a winner.

The game looked destined to drift into a draw. Then Alderete miscued. Sasa Lukic pounced, fed Clarke, and the former Sunderland winger did the rest, cutting inside and whipping the ball beyond Roefs. One touch to control the moment, another to rip it away from his old club.

Ipswich wanted to follow Sunderland’s blueprint for survival and progress. On opening day, they beat the architects.

Nottingham Forest dominated the ball, the territory, and the chances. Leeds walked away with the points.

Anton Stach’s 88th-minute free-kick gave Daniel Farke’s side a 1-0 win at the City Ground, their first league victory there since 1972, and left Forest with a familiar sinking feeling. New manager Oliver Glasner wants a top-half finish this season. On this evidence, the old problems have not gone away.

Forest started slowly but grew into the game. In the 16th minute, Igor Jesus met Ola Aina’s long throw with a firm header, only for James Trafford to stretch and claw it away. Soon after, Aina’s full-blooded challenge on James Justin survived a VAR check, and Harry Wilson had a goal rightly ruled out for offside in the 25th minute.

From there, Forest took control.

Five minutes before the break, James McAtee delivered a perfect cross for Nikola Milenkovic, whose glancing header clipped the post. The rebound fell to Igor Jesus, but he could not convert. The theme continued after half-time: Aina’s delivery again found Jesus, who headed down and over from close range.

Glasner turned to Chris Wood, and the substitute almost delivered. Murillo slid a clever pass through, Wood burst clear, but dragged his shot wide. The chances piled up; the goal never came.

Leeds, who flirted with relegation last season but harbour ambitions of climbing the table, spent long spells under pressure yet still carried a threat from set-pieces and crosses. Matz Sels had to fling himself across goal to claw away a powerful Tarik Muharemovic header, a warning Forest failed to heed.

The home side kept swinging. Trafford tipped a looping Milenkovic effort onto the crossbar, another escape for Leeds as the clock ticked down. Forest’s wastefulness invited trouble. Eventually, it arrived.

Two minutes from time, Leeds won a free-kick on the corner of the penalty area. Stach stepped up and whipped a low effort toward Sels’ near post. The goalkeeper could not keep it out. Leeds’ travelling fans exploded, aware of the smash-and-grab nature of what they had just witnessed.

Forest walked off to rue the same old story: no new signings in the starting XI, plenty of promise, no finish. Leeds left with three points, a clean sheet, and a psychological edge ahead of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup rematch.