Everton 2–0 Crystal Palace: Barry Shines in Season Opener
Thierno Barry eased a little of the tension around Goodison Park, Everton eased past Crystal Palace, and David Moyes walked down the tunnel with at least one headache dulled – for now.
Everton 2–0 Crystal Palace: Barry breaks early, Moyes breathes out
Barry, who had to wait until December last season to get off the mark, needed only the opening weekend this time. In a squad still short of attacking reinforcements after a forward line that mustered just 18 league goals in 2025-26, his header felt bigger than a routine second in a routine win. It felt like oxygen.
The afternoon had already been charged. Season ticket-holder Andy Burnham took his seat at Goodison for the first time as Prime Minister, and Everton, bruised by a seven-game winless run to end last season and miss out on Europe, badly needed to match the occasion with a result.
Moyes barely touched his starting XI. Hayden Hackney came in as the new holding midfielder, Merlin Röhl was again shunted into the problem right-back role, and that was about it. Familiar faces, familiar concerns.
For 38 minutes, it was also a familiar story.
Palace carved out the better chances. Jean-Philippe Mateta somehow stabbed wide from close range, the sort of opportunity he usually finishes with a shrug. He then rattled a post, the same upright Eddie Nketiah had already struck with a fierce effort that Jordan Pickford brilliantly clawed onto the woodwork. Everton looked flat, Palace sharper, and Moyes’ touchline stare grew darker.
Then the game flipped in an instant.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, quiet until then, took charge. A loose ball broke his way on the edge of the area, and he whipped a left-footed strike across Dean Henderson and into the far corner. One clean hit, one roar around Goodison, and suddenly Everton had something to cling to.
The goal changed everything. Everton stepped higher, moved the ball quicker, and Palace’s composure began to fray.
The pressure told early in the second half. Hackney spotted a chance and went short with a smart, quick free-kick. Iliman Ndiaye, lively all afternoon, barely broke stride as he bent in a teasing delivery. Barry attacked it from five yards, drove his header down and in, and Moyes finally allowed himself a fist pump.
From then on, Everton looked like the side with a plan. Ndiaye buzzed between the lines, the sharpest attacker on the pitch. Hackney, on his Premier League debut, played with a calm that belied the occasion, knitting play and protecting the back four. It wasn’t flawless, but it was functional – and after last season’s collapse, functional is a start.
The issues haven’t vanished. The lack of depth up front remains glaring, and Moyes’ frustration with the club’s transfer business has not suddenly disappeared because Barry found his range in August instead of December. But three points, a clean sheet, and a goalscoring striker give him something concrete to build on.
Palace, though, will feel they left Merseyside empty-handed when it could easily have been them winning 2-0.
Pierre Sage travelled without Ismaila Sarr amid reports the winger had refused to train as he pushes for a move to Galatasaray, and that absence showed in the final third. Palace still created enough: Mateta’s misses, Nketiah’s effort onto the post, and a series of promising breaks that fell apart with the last pass or finish. For a club that has lifted more trophies in the past two seasons – FA Cup and Conference League – than Everton have managed in three decades, the wastefulness stung.
Sage, like Moyes, walks away with a to-do list. Everton at least have the comfort of a win while they work through theirs.
Ipswich 2–1 Sunderland: Clarke haunts old club in stoppage-time chaos
At Portman Road, the noise at full-time sounded like years of frustration bursting out in one go.
Jack Clarke, off the bench and up against his former club, curled in a 90th-minute winner to give newly-promoted Ipswich a 2-1 victory over Sunderland and ignite Gary O’Neil’s reign in spectacular fashion.
Ipswich have spent the summer trying to prove they belong. Twelve new signings, six of them making full debuts here, and the shadow of Kieran McKenna’s successful era still hanging over the place. O’Neil’s first competitive game was always going to be a test of nerves as much as quality.
Sunderland, who finished seventh in their own first season back in the top flight in 2025-26, almost delivered a brutal lesson inside four minutes. Trai Hume had too much time, slid in Brian Brobbey, and only Leif Davis’s last-ditch block prevented an early setback. Debutant goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen then endured a jittery moment on the ball before Ipswich finally settled.
When they did, Emersonn took centre stage. He had already troubled Robin Roefs with an early header, and in the 24th minute he got his reward. Julio Enciso, back at Town after a sparkling six-month loan last year, read Luke O’Nien’s pass, pinched it, glided past O’Nien and Dan Ballard, and then unselfishly squared for Emersonn to slide in the opener. It was a goal built on individual brilliance and cool finishing.
Ipswich looked comfortable. Then came the punch to the gut.
With half-time looming, Granit Xhaka earned a free-kick on the edge of the area. Nilson Angulo stepped up and produced a stunning effort, arcing it over the wall and in off the crossbar in the 39th minute. From control to 1-1 in a heartbeat.
The equaliser steadied Sunderland and reset the contest. At the interval, it felt like the game might drift towards a draw.
Ipswich refused to let that happen. They came out after the break with renewed aggression. Abdul Fatawu twice threatened to carve open a second goal, tormenting the visitors down the flank. O’Neil and his opposite number both turned to their benches as the clock ticked down, searching for one decisive moment.
It arrived when Sunderland blinked.
Omar Alderete, on as a substitute, played a loose pass in a dangerous area. Sasa Lukic pounced, slid the ball into Clarke, and suddenly Portman Road held its breath. Clarke cut inside, opened his body and bent his shot beyond Roefs into the bottom corner. Ninety minutes gone. Old club punished. New club in pandemonium.
For Ipswich, it was only their second Premier League home win in 24 years. For O’Neil, it was the perfect way to stamp his authority on a nervous, expectant crowd.
Nottingham Forest 0–1 Leeds: Stach stuns City Ground late on
At the City Ground, Nottingham Forest dominated, missed, and then paid the price.
Anton Stach’s 88th-minute free-kick gave Leeds a 1-0 win and their first league victory at Forest since 1972, a smash-and-grab that left Oliver Glasner staring at all-too-familiar failings.
Forest want to push into the top half under their new manager. The performance, though, echoed last season: promising approach play, chances created, no finish. With no new signings in the starting XI, the same problems resurfaced.
The first half was slow to ignite. On 16 minutes, Igor Jesus met Ola Aina’s long throw with a firm header, but James Trafford stretched to push it away. Soon after, the home fans held their breath as Aina’s strong tackle on James Justin went to a VAR check for serious foul play. The defender escaped, and Forest seemed to grow in confidence.
Harry Wilson then had the ball in the net, only to see an offside flag correctly deny him. Forest pushed again. In the 40th minute, James McAtee delivered a superb cross, Nikola Milenkovic glanced a header onto the post, and Jesus failed to turn in the rebound. It was a warning of what was to come.
After the break, Forest kept hammering away. Another Aina cross found Jesus, who got his header all wrong, bouncing it down and over from close range. Chris Wood came off the bench, raced onto a through ball from Murillo, and dragged his shot wide. Trafford was beaten at times, but not quite. He tipped a looping Milenkovic effort onto the crossbar as the pressure mounted.
Leeds, who spent last season flirting with relegation and are desperate to climb the table, had mostly been hanging on. Yet they still carried a threat from set-pieces. Matz Sels had to fly across his goal to claw away a Tarik Muharemovic header, a reminder that Forest’s wastefulness left the door ajar.
With two minutes of normal time left, Leeds kicked it open.
Stach stood over a free-kick on the corner of the penalty area and went low towards the near post. Sels couldn’t keep it out. The away end exploded, Leeds players sprinted to the corner, and Forest’s players sank, knowing exactly how they had let this slip.
Leeds now take momentum into Tuesday’s Carabao Cup rematch. Forest, still chasing a cutting edge, must decide how long they can wait before that top-half ambition starts to sound like wishful thinking.
