Tierno Barry scored his first goal for Everton as the Toffees beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium with their fourth win in five games, moving them into fifth place in the Premier League.
In fact, Everton had lost two of their last three home games, but David Moyes’ side were saved midway through by Nikola Milenkovic’s own goal just 1 minute 22 seconds later.
The decisive moment of the game came in first-half stoppage time, when Forest looked to equalize, but Everton fought back through Iliman Ndiay’s pace, feeding Barry in space in the box, and the striker kept his cool under Mats Sells to finish.
Everton’s Keiynan Dewsbury-Hall (centre) celebrates with his team-mates after scoring the third goal.
Forest manager Sean Dyche would have been furious at the 3-1 comeback, but with Barry and Charlie Alcaraz (1 goal in 13 games) supporting him, Ndiaye could have been forgiven for acting alone, but with 737 Premier League minutes gone, he unselfishly passed to his left, giving Barry a chance.
It was the 23-year-old’s 17th appearance since his £27m move from Villarreal and his sixth successive start since Moyes decided to put his trust in the Frenchman rather than the more experienced Beto.
After taking the lead, Everton had not lost in their previous seven league games and had won five, but they were also helped by Forest’s poor performance as they were unable to get a shot on target until Jordan Pickford parried Elliot Anderson’s shot just before Barry’s goal.
Everton’s Tierno Barry celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal
Nicolas Dominguez, who came on at half-time for substitute Ryan Yates, was denied a goal by James Tarkowski after Pickford failed to deal with a cross, but he proved crucial as Dewsbury-Hall, who hit the post first, scored from a corner kick.
What the managers said…
Everton manager David Moyes:
“He (Barry) will miss six more games and only score one goal. He has been given chances, but I have to say that Beto is starting to show more. “Barry will have to continue to play well.”
“In the opening game of the season, one of us needed to score and no one was scoring at that point, so we were happy to substitute them after 60 minutes.
“The choice was to have Tierno play in the team to help him get used to the Premier League, but we really hope Beto gets back into shape and we need both of them to score.”
Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche:
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Sean Dyche was left frustrated by two refereeing decisions in Nottingham Forest’s defeat to Everton.
“Obviously we didn’t get off to a good start, but that doesn’t help.
“I never thought we would come close to the performance level of the group – the competitiveness, the desire, the will, the collective desire to challenge the game.
“I thought they (Everton) did that. They started bright, competed, put the ball forward, did all the basic things.
“They wanted more of it and we lacked it today. This was a real reminder for our group.”
Dewsbury Hall adds goal to attack
Everton’s Keiynan Dewsbury-Hall celebrates after Nottingham Forest’s Nikola Milenkovic scores an own goal
Analysis by Sky Sports’ Rich Morgan:
Much of the attention at Everton this season has understandably been focused on the performances of Jack Grealish, who plays on the left side of the attack, but it was fellow playmaker Keiynan Dewsbury-Hall who stole the show on Saturday with his attacking skill in the number 10 role.
The 27-year-old, who joined the Toffees from Chelsea in the summer, was at the heart of the home side’s impressive performance at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, scoring his team’s third goal of the second half after curling a shot off the edge of the area to seal a comfortable victory.
The late goal was Dewsbury-Hall’s third in his last four Premier League games, just one fewer than he had scored in his first 82 appearances in the previous competition. If he can continue to add goals to his games at this rate, he will prove to be a wise signing.
