Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace: Blues open the season in style at Hill Dickinson as Dewsbury-Hall and Barry deliver

Saturday 22 August 2026. Hill Dickinson Stadium. Opening day of the 2026/27 Premier League season. And for once, the narrative around Everton felt a little lighter before a ball was even kicked.

David Moyes’ side had limped to the end of the previous campaign. A late-season slide of seven games without a win left them 13th and watching European football from afar. Crystal Palace, by contrast, arrived with silverware still fresh – Conference League winners under Oliver Glasner the season before, FA Cup holders the year prior – and a new manager in Pierre Sage trying to put his own stamp on things. The Eagles had the recent pedigree. Everton had the home crowd, a new stadium still finding its voice, and a manager determined to steady the ship.

What followed was a classic early-season Premier League story: one team wasteful, the other clinical. Palace created the clearer chances in the first half and finished with a higher expected goals figure. Everton took theirs and left with three points and a clean sheet. Final score: Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace. Goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall just before the break and Thierno Barry early in the second half. Attendance 51,820. Referee Paul Tierney. And, for good measure, newly installed Prime Minister and long-time Everton season-ticket holder Andy Burnham watching on.

The build-up: expectations and questions

Coming into the fixture, both clubs carried familiar questions. For Everton the attacking output last season had been modest. Thierno Barry and Beto between them had not set the league alight, and the lack of significant reinforcements in the final third was already a talking point. Moyes had made no secret of his frustration with the transfer window. Hayden Hackney, the highly rated midfielder signed from Middlesbrough, was thrown straight into the starting eleven for his Premier League debut. Merlin Röhl, more naturally a midfielder, filled in at right-back. Academy product Harrison Armstrong retained his place. Iliman Ndiaye and Tyrique George offered width and invention around Barry.

Palace’s issues were different. Ismaïla Sarr’s future was the subject of constant speculation, with reports he had refused to train amid interest from Galatasaray. Sage went without him. Eddie Nketiah and Jean-Philippe Mateta led the line, supported by Dwight McNeil (ironically facing his former club after a swap involving Brennan Johnson the other way) and the midfield engine of Adam Wharton and Daichi Kamada. The back three of Jaydee Canvot, Chris Richards and Chadi Riad looked solid on paper. Dean Henderson started in goal.

Pre-match talk focused on whether Everton could start the season with a win for the first time since 2021 and whether Palace’s recent European success would translate into a strong domestic opening under new management. The Hill Dickinson atmosphere was expectant rather than euphoric – flags, noise, the usual Merseyside edge – but there was a sense that three points here would buy Moyes a little breathing room.

First half: Palace knock, Everton answer

The game opened at a lively tempo. Palace looked the more fluid side early on. Mateta should have scored inside three minutes when Nketiah’s cross found him in the six-yard box; the Frenchman somehow failed to hit the target. Jordan Pickford was called into more serious action soon after. Wharton’s clever chip over Röhl released Nketiah, whose curling effort was brilliantly tipped onto the post by the England goalkeeper. Moments later Mateta was through again and struck the same upright. Two gilt-edged chances, both denied by woodwork and a world-class save. Palace fans must have been thinking the same old story.

Everton were not entirely passive. Ndiaye forced a save from Henderson and the home side began to press higher, forcing errors. Kamada picked up a yellow card on the half-hour for a foul. The contest remained open, end-to-end in spells, but the visitors continued to create the better openings. Muñoz headed wide from close range. Another VAR check for a potential Everton penalty after contact on Branthwaite came to nothing after a lengthy review – Canvot was judged offside in the build-up.

Then, three minutes before the break, the breakthrough. Muñoz lost possession cheaply. Armstrong nicked the ball and fed Dewsbury-Hall on the edge of the area. The midfielder took a touch and lashed a left-footed drive into the top right corner past Henderson. It was a strike of real quality – angled, powerful, unstoppable. Hill Dickinson erupted. Everton, having ridden their luck, led 1-0 at half-time.

That goal changed the mood entirely. Palace had been the better side for large periods yet trailed. Everton had been compact, organised and, crucially, clinical when the opportunity arrived.

Second half: control and a second goal

The pattern continued after the restart. Everton came out with greater urgency. Eight minutes into the second half the lead was doubled. Hayden Hackney took a free-kick quickly, Ndiaye whipped in a delicious outswinging cross from the right, and Barry rose to plant a firm header past Henderson from close range. Simple, effective, well-worked. The French striker, who had waited until December the previous season for his first Everton goal, now had one on the opening day. Cue more celebrations and a sense that the points were heading to the home side.

Palace made changes – Nketiah and Muñoz replaced by Yeremi Pino and Anan Khalaili around the 56-minute mark – but the rhythm stayed with Everton. Ndiaye continued to look the sharpest player on the pitch, forcing another good save from Henderson with a half-volley. The visitors still threatened sporadically. Strand Larsen (on for Mateta) had a late header clawed away by Pickford in stoppage time. Chadi Riad went off injured and was replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu. Yet clear-cut chances became rarer.

Moyes managed the game from the bench. Garner, recovered from a groin issue, came on for Hackney. Beto replaced Barry. Brennan Johnson made his Premier League debut for Everton against his former club, replacing George. Dewsbury-Hall received a standing ovation when he was withdrawn late on for Carlos Alcaraz. The final whistle brought relief and satisfaction rather than wild scenes. A solid, professional opening-day victory.

Analysis: clinical edge versus wastefulness

The numbers told an interesting story. Palace finished with higher possession (around 58%), more completed passes and a superior expected goals figure (roughly 2.0 to Everton’s 1.1-1.2 depending on the source). They managed 11 shots to Everton’s 16, with four on target against five. Big chances missed: Palace four, Everton none of note. Corners: Everton four, Palace zero. Fouls: Palace committed 15 to Everton’s five. Discipline was better for the hosts, who finished with a clean sheet and no yellow cards.

Tactically, Moyes’ side were organised and direct when it mattered. The midfield pairing of Hackney and Armstrong provided a platform. Dewsbury-Hall drifted into dangerous areas and produced the moment of quality that opened the scoring. Ndiaye’s delivery for the second goal was excellent. At the back, Tarkowski and Branthwaite were largely solid once the early scares passed, and Pickford produced two outstanding interventions that proved decisive.

For Palace the finishing was the obvious flaw. Mateta and Nketiah both hit the woodwork from positions they would usually convert. Wharton showed his quality in creating those openings, but the final ball and clinical edge deserted them. Sage’s side looked capable of controlling large periods yet lacked the ruthlessness required on the road against a side happy to absorb pressure and strike on the counter or from set-piece situations. The absence of Sarr was noticeable in terms of pace and direct threat in behind.

Dewsbury-Hall was the standout performer for many observers, combining defensive work with that thunderous finish. Barry’s goal will give him confidence. Hackney looked composed on debut. Ndiaye’s creativity stood out. For Palace, Wharton and Henderson could hold their heads high; the attackers will reflect on what might have been.

Top highlights

The match will be remembered for a handful of key moments. First, Pickford’s fingertip save that turned Nketiah’s effort onto the post – pure athleticism and concentration. Second, Mateta’s side-foot against the same upright when clean through. Those two incidents kept the score level and allowed Everton to capitalise. Third, Dewsbury-Hall’s rocket into the top corner: the kind of goal that lifts a stadium and shifts momentum in an instant. Fourth, Barry’s well-timed header from Ndiaye’s inviting cross – a textbook centre-forward’s finish. And finally, Pickford’s late save from Strand Larsen to preserve the clean sheet.

There were smaller moments too: Armstrong’s industrious work to win the ball for the opener, Ndiaye’s constant threat, the quick free-kick that led to the second goal, and the atmosphere generated by a near-full Hill Dickinson on a sunny August afternoon with the Prime Minister in attendance.

Summary and what it means

Everton start the season with three points, a clean sheet and a performance that mixed defensive resilience with clinical finishing. It is exactly the kind of result Moyes would have wanted – professional, hard-earned and confidence-building after last season’s disappointing end. Questions about attacking depth remain, and the transfer window frustrations have not disappeared overnight, but a win on opening day settles nerves.

Crystal Palace will feel they left points behind. Higher xG, better possession, multiple clear chances – yet nothing to show for it. Sage has work to do in sharpening the final third and integrating his ideas. The European experience of recent seasons counts for little if domestic finishing remains wasteful.

For the neutral it was an entertaining, if imperfect, start to the campaign. One side took their chances; the other did not. Football at this level is often that simple. Everton sit among the early leaders with three points. Palace begin with zero and a reminder that control without conversion is not enough.

The season is long. Both clubs will face far tougher tests. But for one afternoon at least, the Blues of Merseyside had the last word. Dewsbury-Hall’s strike and Barry’s header ensured the new campaign began with a smile at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Three points in the bag, and the road ahead already looking a little clearer.