Thierno Barry Eases Everton Anxiety with Win Over Crystal Palace

Thierno Barry needed until December to get off the mark last season. This time, he has spared David Moyes that particular worry before the leaves have even started to fall.

The 23-year-old Frenchman’s close-range header sealed a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Goodison Park, a result that did not just lift the mood but briefly quietened the noise around a transfer window that has left the Everton manager unimpressed and understocked in attack. Barry and Beto combined for just 18 league goals in 2025-26; no new striker has arrived. An early goal from Barry matters.

It came on a day heavy with symbolism. Season ticket-holder Andy Burnham was back at Goodison for the first time since becoming Prime Minister, and Everton, who stumbled through their final seven games last term without a win and without European football as a consequence, finally produced something that looked like a reset.

Dewsbury-Hall flips the script

The start, though, felt painfully familiar.

Moyes’ XI carried very little novelty. Hayden Hackney, handed the holding role on his Premier League debut, was the only new signing in the line-up. Merlin Rohl, a midfielder by trade, again patched up the problem position at right-back.

Palace sensed vulnerability and should have punished it. Jean-Philippe Mateta, usually ruthless from close range, stabbed wide from inside the box, then struck the post with another opportunity. Eddie Nketiah went even closer, his effort brilliantly tipped onto the same upright by Jordan Pickford at full stretch.

Everton looked flat, Palace sharper, the Goodison crowd edging towards that familiar low grumble.

Then Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ripped up the script.

With 38 minutes gone, the midfielder lashed a left-footed drive across Dean Henderson and into the far corner. Out of nowhere, Everton led. The goal didn’t just change the scoreline; it changed the temperature inside the stadium. Goodison woke up, and Palace never quite recovered their earlier control.

Barry delivers the cushion

After the break, Everton finally played with the urgency their manager has been demanding.

Hackney, neat and unfazed in the anchor role, spotted an opportunity and took a quick free-kick. Iliman Ndiaye, who had looked the sharpest attacker on the pitch, whipped in a first-time cross with minimum fuss. Barry attacked it from five yards, directing a firm downward header beyond Henderson.

Simple move. Big relief.

The second goal reflected a different Everton: quicker on the ball, more decisive in the final third. Ndiaye buzzed between the lines, Hackney kept things tidy and progressive, and the home side began to look like a team capable of more than just firefighting.

Yet even in victory, the cracks remained visible. The squad still feels thin, the right-back position still improvised, and the reliance on a small group of forwards still obvious. Moyes will know one early Barry goal does not fix a whole summer.

Palace waste their chance

On the opposite bench, Pierre Sage has problems of his own.

Ismaila Sarr was absent amid rumours he had refused to train in a bid to force through a move to Galatasaray, stripping Palace of one of their most dangerous outlets. Even without him, they had enough chances to leave Merseyside with something.

They also arrived with a recent pedigree Everton can only envy. Palace have lifted two trophies in the last two seasons – the FA Cup in 2025 and the Europa Conference League – more silverware than Everton have managed in 31 years. For long spells in the first half, they played like the side more accustomed to winning big games.

But finishing deserted them. Mateta’s misses, Nketiah’s near-miss, Igor Jesus failing to convert rebounds and crosses: it added up. With sharper execution, this could easily have been a 2-0 away win.

Instead, Palace left empty-handed, Sage facing the same questions about ruthlessness that have dogged so many managers before him.

Moyes, by contrast, walked down the tunnel with three points, a goalscoring striker, and a brief respite from the transfer angst. The bigger issues haven’t gone away. But for one afternoon, Everton looked like a team that might just have something to build on.

Jack Clarke haunts Sunderland as Ipswich announce themselves late.

Portman Road has waited a long time for a day like this. Ninety minutes into their Premier League return, with the game drifting towards a draw, Ipswich needed a moment. Jack Clarke supplied it – at the expense of his old club.

The substitute struck in the 90th minute to give newly-promoted Ipswich a 2-1 win over Sunderland, pouncing on a loose pass and curling into the bottom corner to ignite pandemonium in a stadium that has seen only one previous Premier League home win in the last 24 years.

Gary O’Neil, taking charge of a competitive game for Ipswich for the first time since replacing Kieran McKenna in June, watched his new era begin with drama and edge.

Enciso lights it up, Angulo hits back

Ipswich’s summer had been frantic: 12 signings through the door, six of them starting here, all in an effort to emulate Sunderland’s own impressive return to the top flight last season, when they finished seventh.

They almost got a harsh reminder of the level inside four minutes. Trai Hume found time and space to slip in Brian Brobbey, only for Leif Davis to race back and make a crucial block. Debutant goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen then suffered a nervy moment in possession before Ipswich settled.

When the opener came, it was all about Julio Enciso.

The former Brighton forward, back after an eye-catching six-month loan last year, intercepted Luke O’Nien’s pass, glided past O’Nien and Dan Ballard, then rolled the ball across for Emersonn. On his first start, the forward slid in the 24th-minute finish and Portman Road roared.

Sunderland responded with quality of their own. With half-time approaching, Granit Xhaka won a free-kick on the edge of the area. Nilson Angulo stepped up and delivered a superb strike, arcing the ball over the wall and in off the crossbar in the 39th minute. A single, ruthless moment levelled it at 1-1.

Clarke’s late twist

Ipswich came out after the interval with renewed purpose. Abdul Fatawu twice threatened to restore their lead, driving at a Sunderland defence that began to creak.

Both managers turned to their benches in search of a winner. O’Neil’s decisive intervention came with Clarke.

Sunderland blinked first. Deep into normal time, substitute Omar Alderete played a wayward pass out from the back. Sasa Lukic pounced, fed Clarke, and the winger did the rest – cutting inside and whipping his shot beyond Robin Roefs.

For Ipswich, it was lift-off. For Sunderland, a stinging reminder that the league they mastered last season will not be so forgiving this time.

Stach stuns Forest as Leeds steal it late at the City Ground.

Nottingham Forest dominated almost everything. Territory. Chances. Woodwork. The only thing they did not dominate was the one that counts.

Leeds left the City Ground with a 1-0 win, courtesy of Anton Stach’s 88th-minute free-kick, and their first league victory there since 1972. It felt like a heist.

Forest, under new head coach Oliver Glasner and talking ambitiously about a top-half finish, served up an all-too-familiar story: no new signings in the starting XI, plenty of opportunities, no end product.

Forest waste, Leeds wait

The game crawled into life, then suddenly snapped.

In the 16th minute, Ola Aina launched a long throw into the Leeds box. Igor Jesus met it with a firm header, but James Trafford stretched brilliantly to keep it out. Soon after, Aina’s full-blooded tackle on James Justin survived a VAR review for serious foul play.

Forest thought they had their breakthrough in the 25th minute when Harry Wilson tucked the ball away, only for the flag – correctly – to cut short the celebrations.

They kept pushing. Just before half-time, James McAtee bent in a perfect delivery for Nikola Milenkovic, whose glancing header clipped the post. Jesus could not turn in the rebound. The pattern was set.

After the restart, it continued. Jesus again misjudged a close-range header from another Aina cross, sending the ball down and over. Chris Wood came off the bench, latched onto Murillo’s through ball, and dragged his shot wide when he should have hit the target.

Leeds, who flirted with relegation last season but harbour hopes of climbing the table under Daniel Farke, spent long spells under pressure. Yet they still carried a threat from set pieces. Matz Sels had to fling himself across goal to claw away a Tarik Muharemovic header.

Forest kept knocking. Trafford tipped a looping Milenkovic effort onto the crossbar. The home crowd groaned. The sense of déjà vu grew.

Stach strikes, Leeds escape

Then came the punishment.

With two minutes left, Leeds won a free-kick on the corner of the penalty area. Stach stepped up and went low towards the near post. The strike skidded past Sels and inside the upright, sending the travelling Leeds fans into delirium.

Forest were left to stare at the scoreboard and wonder how they had lost a game they had controlled. Leeds walked away with three points, momentum, and a psychological edge ahead of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup rematch.

Forest’s ambitions remain the same. But until someone in red starts finishing, days like this will keep dragging them back.