Everton's Barry Shines in Season Opener Against Crystal Palace
Thierno Barry eased a little of the tension around Everton and David Moyes with a rare sight at Goodison Park – a centre-forward scoring in August.
The 23-year-old’s close-range header sealed a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace and briefly quietened the noise around a transfer window that has left Moyes deeply unimpressed. Last season Barry had to wait until December for his first Everton goal. This time, with no new striker signed to help a forward line that mustered only 18 league goals in 2025-26, he delivered on opening day. The relief was obvious.
Everton rise to the occasion – and the occasion is political
This was no ordinary home game. Season ticket-holder Andy Burnham was back at Goodison for the first time as Prime Minister, and Everton – winless in their final seven matches last term and denied a European return as a result – badly needed a lift.
They got one, eventually.
Moyes’ line-up hardly screamed new era. Hayden Hackney was the only fresh face in the XI, anchoring midfield, while Merlin Rohl was again asked to plug the gap at right-back. For 38 minutes, the performance felt painfully familiar too.
Palace carved out the better chances. Jean-Philippe Mateta somehow stabbed wide from close range, the sort of finish he usually dispatches without thinking. He then clipped the post, the same upright Eddie Nketiah struck with a fierce effort that Jordan Pickford acrobatically clawed onto the woodwork. Everton were hanging on, not building.
Then the game flipped.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, quiet until that point, exploded into life. Cutting across the edge of the area, he lashed a left-footed strike across Dean Henderson and into the far corner. One moment of conviction, one clean hit, and Goodison’s mood turned in an instant.
Barry steps up as Hackney and Ndiaye catch the eye
The second half belonged to Everton. The passes were sharper, the tempo higher, the hesitancy gone. The pressure finally told with Barry’s goal – a finish that looked simple only because of the speed of thought behind it.
Hackney spotted the opportunity and took a quick free-kick, Iliman Ndiaye whipped in a wicked delivery with minimal fuss, and Barry attacked it from five yards, heading down and in. A classic striker’s goal, but a rare one in recent Everton history.
Ndiaye looked the liveliest attacker on the pitch, constantly probing and drifting into spaces Palace struggled to track. Hackney, on his Premier League debut, played with a calm authority that will encourage Moyes, even if it does not erase the need for more reinforcements.
Because the problems have not vanished. Moyes still has a thin squad, still no extra firepower beyond Barry and Beto, and still a fanbase that expects more than survival and frustration.
Palace waste their moment as Sarr saga looms
Across the technical area, Pierre Sage had his own concerns. Palace arrived without Ismaila Sarr, amid rumours the winger had refused to train as he tries to force through a move to Galatasaray. On the pitch, his absence was felt in the final third.
Yet Palace will feel they let a statement away win slip through their fingers. With better finishing, they could easily have been the side two goals up. This is a club that has lifted more trophies in the last two seasons – the FA Cup in 2025 and the Conference League – than Everton have in 31 years. They did not play like underdogs.
They created, they pressed, they rattled the frame of the goal. What they did not do was score. And once Dewsbury-Hall broke them open, they never truly recovered.
Everton took the points, the applause and a hint of optimism. Palace left with regrets and a Sarr situation to resolve. For Moyes, Barry’s early-season breakthrough buys time. How long that lasts without further signings is another question entirely.
Clarke stings Sunderland as Ipswich announce their return
At Portman Road, a different kind of story unfolded – one about a club trying to prove it belongs back among the elite.
Jack Clarke, once of Sunderland, wrote the final line. Ninety minutes on the clock, 1-1 and the game drifting towards a draw, Omar Alderete misplaced a pass. Ipswich pounced. Sasa Lukic found Clarke, who cut inside and curled a ruthless finish into the bottom corner. Portman Road erupted. Pandemonium for a fanbase that had seen just one previous Premier League home win in 24 years.
This was the start of a new chapter. Gary O’Neil, appointed in June to succeed long-serving Kieran McKenna, took charge of Ipswich for the first time in a competitive game. Twelve summer signings underlined the club’s ambition to copy Sunderland’s example from last season, when the Black Cats finished seventh on their own top-flight return.
Ipswich struck first. Emersonn, on his first start, had already troubled Robin Roefs with a header before he got his goal on 24 minutes. The move was all about Julio Enciso. The former Brighton forward, back after a sparkling six-month loan spell last year, intercepted Luke O’Nien’s pass, slalomed past O’Nien and Dan Ballard, then unselfishly squared for Emersonn to slide in.
Sunderland hit back with a moment of pure quality. Just before half-time, Granit Xhaka won a free-kick on the edge of the area. Nilson Angulo stepped up and whipped a magnificent strike over the wall, in off the crossbar. A brutal blow for Ipswich, and 1-1 at the break.
After the restart, Ipswich came out with intent. Abdul Fatawu twice threatened to create a second, while Sunderland almost punished them early on when Trai Hume picked out Brian Brobbey, only for Leif Davis to rescue Ipswich with a vital block. Debutant goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen had an early wobble on the ball but settled as O’Neil’s new-look side grew into the contest.
Both managers turned to their benches, hunting a winner. Clarke found it, punishing Alderete’s mistake with the kind of composed finish that can define a season’s opening day. Ipswich’s return to the Premier League began not with a nervy point, but with a statement.
Stach stuns Forest as Leeds steal it late
At the City Ground, Nottingham Forest dominated almost everything – except the one thing that matters.
They hit the woodwork twice, carved out chance after chance and still lost 1-0 to Leeds, undone by Anton Stach’s late free-kick. The midfielder curled in from the edge of the box in the 88th minute, sneaking his low effort inside Matz Sels’ near post to give Daniel Farke’s side their first league win at Forest since 1972.
It was a smash-and-grab in every sense. Forest, under new boss Oliver Glasner and aiming for a top-half finish, looked eerily similar to last season’s wasteful version. No new signings started, and their failure to convert opportunities cost them again.
The warning signs for Leeds came early. On 16 minutes, Igor Jesus met Ola Aina’s long throw with a firm header, only for James Trafford to stretch and save. Aina then escaped a red card after a VAR check on a heavy tackle on James Justin, and Forest thought they had fallen behind when Harry Wilson finished from close range – but the flag, correctly, went up.
Forest then took control. James McAtee’s cross on 40 minutes found Nikola Milenkovic, whose glancing header came back off the post. Igor Jesus could not turn in the rebound. After the break, the pattern stayed the same. Another Aina delivery, another Igor Jesus header, this one down and over from close range.
Chris Wood came off the bench and immediately had a big chance, racing onto Murillo’s through ball but dragging his shot wide. Trafford was beaten later by a looping Milenkovic effort, only for the ball to clip the crossbar after the goalkeeper’s touch.
Leeds were largely on the back foot but not entirely blunt. Sels had to produce a flying save to tip over Tarik Muharemovic’s header from a set piece. Still, a draw seemed the likely outcome until Forest’s profligacy finally caught up with them.
Stach stepped up over a free-kick on the corner of the area. Low, precise, unforgiving. Sels was beaten at his near post, the away end exploded, and Leeds walked away with three points and a psychological edge ahead of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup rematch.
Forest are chasing progress. Leeds are trying to pull away from last season’s relegation flirtation. On opening weekend, one side looked ready to change the story. The other looked trapped in the same old script.
