Everton Secures Opening Win Against Crystal Palace
Everton shook off an early fright and five years of opening‑day frustration to beat Crystal Palace at Hill Dickinson Stadium, launching their Premier League season with a 2-0 win that felt bigger than the scoreline.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry supplied the goals, one either side of half-time, to give David Moyes his first league victory in eight matches and Everton their earliest success in a new campaign since Rafa Benitez oversaw a 3-1 win over Southampton in August 2021.
For Pierre Sage, it was a brutal first taste of English football.
Palace hit the woodwork, Everton land the punch
Palace arrived on Merseyside already handicapped. Last season’s 21-goal top scorer Ismaila Sarr, central to their Conference League triumph, was left out of the travelling squad as speculation over a move to Galatasaray rumbled on. His absence loomed over everything.
Within four minutes, it felt decisive.
Eddie Nketiah pounced on a weak defensive header from James Tarkowski and slipped in Jean-Philippe Mateta, only for the forward to blaze over from inside the area. A huge chance gone, and Palace would not stop regretting it.
Everton, still cobbling together a solution at right-back, steadied themselves. Eight minutes later Dewsbury-Hall threaded a clever pass into makeshift full-back Merlin Rohl, whose cut-back found Iliman Ndiaye. Dean Henderson stood firm, beating away the shot and keeping the game level.
The warning signs for Everton did not disappear. Nketiah and Mateta both struck the woodwork as Sage’s side carved out the better openings, only to be punished in ruthless fashion.
Three minutes before the interval, the momentum flipped.
Dewsbury-Hall, already knitting Everton’s play together, picked his spot and arrowed a low drive into the far corner. Against the run of Palace’s chances, Everton led. Sage could only stare on in disbelief as his team’s wastefulness met a clinical finish at the other end.
Barry doubles up, Palace’s day unravels
Any hope of a reset after the break vanished almost immediately.
Eight minutes into the second half, Ndiaye delivered a wicked cross from the flank and Barry attacked it, guiding his header past Henderson from close range. Everton had daylight, and Hill Dickinson finally had a Premier League afternoon that felt like home.
From there, Moyes’ side managed the game with a composure that had deserted them during last season’s grim, seven-match winless run. Jordan Pickford produced a couple of outstanding saves to preserve the lead, adding steel to the flourish provided by Dewsbury-Hall in midfield.
For Palace, the afternoon darkened further.
Midway through the second half, defender Chadi Riad was carried off on a stretcher after appearing to suffer a serious knee injury, a worrying sight on an already damaging day. The visitors, who had already seen the post deny them twice, now had a fresh concern to add to their list.
By the time the final whistle went, Everton’s new home on the banks of the River Mersey felt transformed. Moyes had compared last season’s six wins from 19 league games there to a room in a new house with only the wallpaper up. On this evidence, the furniture is finally arriving.
New home, new hope – and a harsh lesson for Sage
This was not a flawless Everton performance. The lack of a natural right-back remains an obvious issue, and Moyes has been clear that one or two additions are still needed before the window closes. Yet the blend of Dewsbury-Hall’s authority and Pickford’s interventions gave the afternoon a sense of control that had often been missing.
As the crowd filtered out, there was something Evertonians have not felt in August for a while: genuine optimism. An opening-day win, a clean sheet, and the sense that this squad, with a couple more pieces, might finally be ready to grow into its surroundings.
On the opposite touchline, Sage cut a deflated figure as his players and staff trudged off. The Frenchman, who built his reputation with an impressive Ligue 1 campaign at RC Lens, discovered how unforgiving the Premier League can be when the margins go against you.
On another day, with Sarr available and those early efforts a few inches lower or further inside the post, Palace might have been the ones dancing back to the dressing room. Instead, the woodwork, Everton’s resilience, and their own profligacy left them empty-handed.
Palace arrive at this season off the back of a glittering 12 months: three trophies, including the FA Cup, and a surge in expectation. Yet the departure of Oliver Glasner, the exit of defender Maxence Lacroix and the very real possibility of losing Sarr before the deadline all point towards a period of transition.
Replicating the highs of 2025 and 2026 will be a formidable task. Everton, at least for one afternoon, looked ready to move on. Palace now have to decide how quickly they can rebuild around a changing core, and whether this setback is a blip — or the first sign that the last era really has gone.
