Everton Triumphs Over Crystal Palace in Premier League Opener

Andy Burnham took his place among the dignitaries at Hill Dickinson Stadium, watching the club he grew up with step into a new season still short of the reinforcements everyone has been talking about. No right-back. No new centre-forward. No late-window saviour. On this evidence, no problem.

Everton rode their luck, punished Crystal Palace’s wastefulness and walked away with a win that grew more emphatic as the afternoon wore on. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, with a strike of real class, cut through any lingering gloom from last season. Thierno Barry, a forward whose place may yet be threatened by the market, added a second with a firm header after the break. David Moyes’s side were clinical. Palace, under their new manager Pierre Sage, were anything but.

For Sage, this was a brutal first taste of the Premier League. His team carved Everton open early and often, hit the same post twice and still found themselves chasing the game before half-time. By the end, he had also lost Chadi Riad to what looked a worrying injury, the defender leaving the field to complete a miserable opening day.

No grand tactical revolution from Sage, no sweeping personnel changes. The shape, the structure, even the frustrations felt familiar from the Oliver Glasner era. Palace moved the ball well, found space, created chances. They simply failed to finish.

The tone was set inside three minutes. James Tarkowski, newly installed as Everton captain, misjudged a header and Eddie Nketiah pounced, racing down the left. His low cross picked out Jean-Philippe Mateta at the near post. The finish should have been routine. Instead, the Frenchman lashed his volley over from close range.

Palace came again. Adam Wharton, the midfielder Sage insists will not be prised away despite Manchester City’s interest, produced the pass of the match, dropping a gorgeous ball over Merlin Röhl and into Nketiah’s stride. Röhl, pressed into service at right-back while Everton’s search for Seamus Coleman’s successor drags on, could only watch as Nketiah set himself inside the area. Jordan Pickford read it perfectly, flinging out a left hand to divert the shot onto his post.

That same upright saved Everton again. Wharton combined with Dwight McNeil, back on familiar ground against his old club, and Nketiah to release Mateta in front of goal. At full stretch, the striker finally beat Pickford, only for the ball to cannon back off the woodwork. Three big chances, no breakthrough. The home crowd sensed the escape. So did Moyes.

The punishment arrived five minutes later.

Everton, tentative early on, had started to settle. New arrivals Hayden Hackney, Tyrique George and Röhl all showed why Moyes pushed for them. There was an early warning for Palace when Dewsbury-Hall slid a clever pass into Röhl’s path and the young German squared for Iliman Ndiaye, whose low effort forced Dean Henderson into a sharp save.

For long spells, though, Everton’s attacks lacked precision. George buzzed on the left, always demanding the ball, but the final pass kept eluding them. Then Dewsbury-Hall decided to take control.

The midfielder suddenly sprang to life, slaloming through challenges before his shot struck Chris Richards, prompting loud appeals for handball. The referee waved play on and Palace tried to break through Daniel Muñoz, a player Everton have eyed as a possible solution to their right-back problem. It backfired. Harrison Armstrong hunted him down, nicked possession and left Muñoz stranded upfield.

Armstrong’s pass found Dewsbury-Hall in the space Muñoz had vacated. One touch to set himself, then a sweeping, angled drive that flew beyond Henderson and into the far corner. Unstoppable. The release inside Hill Dickinson Stadium was instant and loud. Everton’s season had its first real jolt of electricity.

Palace had their moments to respond. Muñoz almost atoned when he darted in front of George to meet a teasing cross from Daichi Kamada, only to glance his header wide of the far post. Again, the move was neat, the execution lacking.

Everton, by contrast, made their big moments count. And with Barry’s second-half header tightening their grip, the questions now sit firmly with Sage and a Palace side that cannot afford to be this generous again.