Everton's Season Opener: Dewsbury-Hall Shines in 2-0 Win Over Palace

Andy Burnham took his place among the plush seats at Hill Dickinson Stadium, watching the club he grew up with step into a new season still short of the signings everyone – up to and including the Prime Minister – had been talking about. No right-back. No new centre-forward. No safety net.

Everton didn’t seem to care.

They survived a flurry of Crystal Palace chances, rode their luck with the woodwork, then punished Pierre Sage’s side with ruthless timing. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, on his league debut for the club, ripped away any lingering gloom from last season with a stunning opener, before Thierno Barry – the forward whose place is under threat if a new striker arrives – buried a second-half header to seal a 2-0 win.

For Sage, this was a harsh first taste of the Premier League. His team were bright, inventive, and wasteful. To make matters worse, defender Chadi Riad departed late on with what looked a worrying injury. The optimism of a new era for Palace met the unforgiving edge of this division in a single afternoon.

Palace start fast, Everton hang on

Sage did not tear up the blueprint on his first day. The system looked familiar to the Oliver Glasner era, and so did the problem: Palace could not finish.

They were on the front foot from the opening whistle. Everton’s new captain, James Tarkowski, misjudged a header after only three minutes and suddenly the home defence was wide open. Eddie Nketiah surged into the space down the left and slid a clever ball into the path of Jean-Philippe Mateta. The striker met it first time, eight yards out, and volleyed over. A huge chance, squandered.

The warning didn’t jolt Everton into life. Palace kept coming.

Adam Wharton, the midfielder Sage insists will not be leaving despite Manchester City’s interest, began to dictate. His first moment of real class carved Everton open. Spotting Nketiah peeling away inside the area, Wharton dropped a perfectly weighted pass over Merlin Röhl, the young German pressed into service at right-back while Everton’s search for Seamus Coleman’s successor drags on.

Nketiah had time, space, and the angle. Jordan Pickford had the answer. The Everton goalkeeper flung out a left hand and brushed the shot onto the post. Palace groaned. Everton breathed again.

The same post came to Pickford’s rescue soon after. Wharton combined sharply with Dwight McNeil, back on familiar turf against his former club, and Nketiah, who squared for Mateta in front of goal. At full stretch, the Frenchman beat Pickford but not the woodwork. Another gilt-edged opportunity gone, another reprieve for David Moyes’s side.

The pressure should have broken Everton. Instead, it broke Palace.

Dewsbury-Hall ignites Everton

Up to that point, Everton’s threat had been sporadic. There were bright touches from the summer arrivals – Hayden Hackney busy in midfield, Tyrique George teasing on the left, Röhl settling into an awkward role – but not much to trouble Dean Henderson.

One early move hinted at what was coming. Dewsbury-Hall slipped Röhl into space on the right, and the 21-year-old midfielder squared for Iliman Ndiaye, whose low effort drew a sharp stop from Henderson. Then the game drifted. The crowd grew restless. Everton’s passing lacked bite.

Dewsbury-Hall changed everything.

He first sparked into life with a twisting run through midfield, his shot crashing into Chris Richards and prompting a half-hearted appeal for handball. Referee waved play on and Palace broke through Daniel Muñoz, a player Everton have tracked as a possible answer to their right-back problem.

Muñoz hesitated. Harrison Armstrong did not. The Everton midfielder snapped into the challenge, robbed Muñoz, and suddenly Palace’s right flank was empty. Armstrong looked up and found Dewsbury-Hall, loitering in exactly the space the Colombian had abandoned.

One touch to set himself. One swing of his left boot.

The 27-year-old whipped a fierce, angled drive beyond Henderson and into the far corner. Hill Dickinson erupted. After a summer of angst, Everton’s season had its first roar.

Palace’s slick approach play had earned them nothing. Everton’s first true moment of incision brought everything.

Muñoz almost made amends before the interval. Ghosting in front of George, he met a fine cross from Daichi Kamada but guided his header wide of the far post. Again, the build-up was neat. Again, the finish deserted Palace.

A brutal lesson for Sage

The pattern underlined the gulf in penalty-box quality. Palace moved the ball well, found gaps, and hit the post twice. Everton absorbed, then punished.

Sage, arms folded on the touchline, watched chance after chance slip away. His side’s early dominance had evaporated into frustration. Each miss added to the sense that Everton, for all their issues in the transfer market, knew exactly how to survive days like this.

The second half only deepened that feeling. Everton tightened their shape, their new faces growing in authority. Palace kept probing, but the sharpness of their early exchanges dulled. When Barry rose to head home and wrap up the points – confirmation of Everton’s ruthless edge and Palace’s profligacy – the contest felt decided.

For Moyes, it was vindication of patience and structure in the face of an incomplete squad. For Sage, it was a reminder that in this league, style means little without a finish.

Palace will need to find one quickly.