Everton kicked off the 2026-27 Premier League season with a clean sheet and two well-taken goals. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall opened the scoring in the 42nd minute, and Thierno Barry doubled the lead in the 53rd minute. Crystal Palace, despite creating several clear chances, couldn’t convert any of them.

A new era, same old Everton dominance over Palace

The match, played on August 22 at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in front of 51,820 supporters, extended one of the more lopsided rivalries in recent Premier League memory. Everton entered the fixture on an 11-game unbeaten run against Crystal Palace across all competitions.

Make that 12.

David Moyes, back in the Everton dugout, had spent the summer watching his club fail to land a new right-back or centre-forward. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester and a lifelong Evertonian, was sitting in the directors’ box.