Burnham’s boys enjoy visit from Palace as Everton ease to opening day win

Andy Burnham was in the posh seats at Hill Dickinson Stadium to witness how his beloved Everton would fare without the key additions to David Moyes’s team that even the Prime Minister had voiced an opinion on. No right-back, no new centre-forward, no problem: Everton capitalised on a wasteful Crystal Palace display to start their season with an ultimately convincing victory.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall swept any away lingering resentment over how last season ended for Everton with an outstanding finish before Thierno Barry, a man under pressure should a new striker arrive before the deadline, sealed the win with a second half header. It was a brutal introduction to the Premier League for the new Palace manager, Pierre Sage, who also lost the defender Chadi Riad to a potentially serious injury late on.

There were no radical changes in formation or personnel from Sage for his first Premier League outing. A lack of cutting edge was familiar from the Oliver Glasner era too. The visitors created three clear opportunities before Everton took the lead and failed to take any. Misfortune played its part in two of the chances, with Jordan Pickford’s left hand post struck twice, but that did not diminish the torment for Sage and the travelling support. A sense of the inevitable from Everton increased with each one.

Moved from his usual seat into the directors’ box by Prime Ministerial security logistics, Andy Burnham celebrated with the Everton legend, and his good friend, Peter Reid. Photograph: Paul Currie/Shutterstock

Palace denied reports before kick-off that Ismaïla Sarr had refused to play because of a desire to join Galatasaray – the Senegal international was absent due to injury, according to his new boss. – but the disruption had no impact on the visitors’ start. With three minutes gone, Everton’s new captain James Tarkowski misjudged a header and enabled Eddie Nketiah to break clear down the left. The forward picked out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s run to the near post but his strike partner volleyed over at close range.

Chance number two came from a sublime pass by Adam Wharton, the midfielder who Sage has insisted is going nowhere despite interest from Manchester City. Wharton found Nketiah free inside the area with a perfectly-weighted ball over Merlin Röhl, forced to deputise at right-back in the absence of a conclusion to Everton’s now farcical search for Seamus Coleman’s successor. Nketiah had time to pick his spot but Pickford produced a superb save to tip the shot onto his left hand post.

The same post was struck again when Wharton, the former Everton winger Dwight McNeil and Nketiah combined to find Mateta free in front of Pickford’s goal. At full stretch the France international beat Pickford only for the woodwork to rescue Everton once more. Moyes’s team took full advantage of their reprieves five minutes later.

Thierno Barry outjumped Chris Richards to head Everton into a two-goal lead just after half-time. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Everton grew into their opening game, with summer signings Hayden Hackney, Tyrique George and Röhl all impressing. The hosts had an early chance of their own when Dewsbury-Hall released Röhl and the young German midfielder squared for Iliman Ndiaye to test Dean Henderson’s sharp reflexes in the Palace goal. Creativity was otherwise in short supply from the home side, despite George’s constant probing on the left, until Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye began to impose themselves on proceedings.

Dewsbury-Hall’s impact in particular was worth the wait. The midfielder burst into life with a mazy run that ended with an appeal for handball when his shot hit Chris Richards. Play continued through Daniel Muñoz, a potential Everton right-back target, who was dispossessed by the industrious Harrison Armstrong and left a void for Dewsbury-Hall to exploit. Receiving Armstrong’s pass, the 27-year-old swept an unstoppable, angled drive into Henderson’s far corner to open the season in style for Everton.

Muñoz should have made amends when stealing in ahead of George to meet an inviting delivery from Daichi Kamada. Palace’s end product did not match the build-up yet again, however, and the Colombian defender guided his header wide of the far post.

Everton found the comfort of a two-goal lead early in the second half when Ndiaye delivered a peach of a cross from the right. Barry, on a self-confessed mission to improve following a difficult debut season in the Premier League, rose between Richards and Jaydee Canvot to head past Henderson at close range. The departure of Riad on a stretcher, with the defender distraught as he was carried away, compounded Palace’s deflating afternoon.