Everton survived Crystal Palace’s stronger early moments before goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry gave David Moyes’ side a winning start to the Premier League season at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Crystal Palace created the more dangerous openings in the first half, but Everton were sharper in the moments that decided the match and opened their league campaign with a 2-0 home victory in Liverpool.
Dewsbury-Hall broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute following an assist from Harrison Armstrong, and Barry doubled the lead eight minutes after the restart with a header from Iliman Ndiaye’s delivery.
Everton did not control the match throughout. Everton had to rely on Jordan Pickford during key phases, then made their better spells count on either side of half-time before managing the game well enough to protect the clean sheet.
Dewsbury-Hall and Barry turn the match in Everton’s favour
Palace were the more threatening side at the start. Jean-Philippe Mateta missed an early chance in the third minute and Daniel Muñoz forced Pickford into a save in the 12th, while Everton’s first clear response came a minute later when Ndiaye tested Dean Henderson.
The visitors continued to look capable of getting in behind, and Daichi Kamada’s 30th-minute booking for a foul near Everton’s penalty area was one of the few signs that the home side were beginning to draw Palace back towards their own goal. Even so, it was Everton who found the breakthrough before the interval. Armstrong supplied Dewsbury-Hall in the 42nd minute, and the midfielder finished to turn a difficult first half in the hosts’ favour.
Everton came out with more purpose after the break. Corners in the 48th and 49th minutes sustained the pressure, and the second goal followed in the 53rd when Barry headed in Ndiaye’s delivery to make it 2-0.
Palace tried to change the pattern quickly, sending on Anan Khalaili and Yeremy Pino in the 55th minute before introducing Evann Guessand and Jørgen Strand Larsen in the 63rd. Guessand forced another save from Pickford in the 66th minute and Strand Larsen’s late header was stopped in stoppage time, but Everton still carried a threat on the break, with Carlos Alcaraz drawing a save from Henderson in the 96th minute.
Pickford and Everton’s attacking threat make the difference
Everton finished with only 42 per cent of the ball and completed fewer passes than Palace, so this was not a match they controlled from start to finish. The more telling figures lay elsewhere. Everton produced 16 shots to Palace’s 11, put five efforts on target to the visitors’ three, won all four corners in the game and posted a marginally better expected goals total of 1.652 to 1.45.
Those numbers fit the shape of the contest. Palace had possession and early menace, but Everton were more productive in the periods that mattered. The 4-2-3-1 gave them enough attacking outlets to break the pressure and enough support around Barry to turn promising moments into clear chances.
Pickford was central to that balance. His four saves preserved the clean sheet, while Jarrad Branthwaite, James Tarkowski and Vitaliy Mykolenko combined for 18 clearances in front of him. Everton did not shut Palace out completely, but they defended their box well enough once they had the lead.
The attacking contributions were spread across the side rather than resting on one player. Dewsbury-Hall took three shots and scored the opener, Barry converted one of his two attempts and finished with 0.59 xG, while Ndiaye supplied an assist and tested Henderson twice. Tyrique George did not score, yet his five shots and 0.398 xG underlined how often Everton found him in useful areas.
After a previous league campaign in which the club’s forward line managed only 18 goals, Barry’s early contribution was the kind of detail that changed the feel of the afternoon.
What comes next for Everton and Crystal Palace?
Palace still had enough of the game to leave frustrated. Their early chances gave them a route into the contest, and their attacking substitutions kept some pressure on Everton late on, but they never found the goal that would have changed the final phase. Chadi Riad’s second-half injury added another problem, with the defender needing treatment after going down in the 69th minute before Takehiro Tomiyasu replaced him three minutes later.
Everton next face AFC Bournemouth at 15:00 BST on Saturday 29 August. Moyes’ side can take confidence from an efficient opening-day win, although there is still room for greater control.
Crystal Palace travel to Manchester City for a 20:00 BST match on Friday 28 August. They had enough possession and enough chances to suggest this was not a one-sided defeat, but sharper finishing and a more decisive final ball will be needed after leaving Liverpool without a point.
