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.

Full report to follow