Thierno Barry Heads Everton to Opening-Day Win as New Season Begins
Thierno Barry scored with a header as Everton opened the 2026/27 Premier League season with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton FC).
A new campaign, a new home, and an early goal from the striker Everton have pinned their hopes on. Barry rose to meet a cross and buried it, giving the Toffees a lead they never looked like surrendering on a night that felt like a fresh start for a club that has needed one.
Everton were handed a points deduction last season for breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules — the financial framework that stops clubs spending more than they earn over a rolling period (BBC Sport). The penalty made an already difficult season harder, and it cast a long shadow over a squad still finding its feet in a new stadium.
Barry arrived from La Liga, Spain's top flight, fresh from an 11-goal campaign that marked him out as one of the bargains of the summer window (BBC Sport). The transition to English football was not seamless. By the midway point of last season he had scored only once in 18 Premier League appearances.
Then the tide turned. When Jack Grealish — Everton's creator-in-chief, the player who supplied the chances — suffered a season-ending injury in January, the smart money would have been on Barry struggling further. Instead, half of his eight league goals came after Grealish went down (BBC Sport). Barry also hit a run of three goals in his last four Premier League games as the season reached its climax (TNT Sports).
He finished his debut Premier League campaign with eight goals in 38 appearances. The numbers look modest on the surface, but they were earned rather than flattering. His eight goals came from an expected goals — or xG, a measure of chance quality — of 8.1, meaning he scored at almost exactly the rate the quality of his chances suggested he should (BBC Sport). His shot conversion rate, the percentage of attempts that turned into goals, was 21.1%. That sat just shy of Erling Haaland's 21.4% for the same season.
For a player whose big-chance conversion rate had dropped from 48.5% in Belgium's second tier to 23.8% when he moved to Switzerland (The Analyst), finding a consistent level in the Premier League — the most demanding league he has played in — is no small thing.
What makes the opening-day header feel significant is the context around it. A club recovering from a points deduction, a striker who took half a season to find his feet, and a stadium still learning what home advantage sounds like. Barry meeting the ball and scoring was one moment in ninety minutes, but it carried the weight of everything that came before it.
The season is one game old. Barry has one goal. For Everton, that is already a better start than last time around.
