Everton beat Ipswich 1-0 to stay unbeaten as Thierno Barry goal lifts side to fifth

Deflection and refereeing decisions

Everton earned a 1-0 win against Ipswich Town at the £800 million Hill Dickinson Stadium, extending their unbeaten start to five league matches. The deciding goal arrived in the first half when a 25-yard volley from James Tarkowski struck Thierno Barry on the chest, wrong-footing goalkeeper Christian Walton as the ball rolled into the net. The 23-year-old forward ended a four-game drought with the effort, marking his fifth goal of the season across all competitions. Ipswich manager Gary O'Neil expressed frustration with how the opening goal unfolded.

The goal is fairly unfortunate to go in off the guy's midriff.

Attacking controversy continued after the interval when Barry directed a header into the net from a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall corner. Referee Stuart Attwell overturned the goal following a video assistant referee review, ruling that an offside Brennan Johnson interfered with Walton despite the goalkeeper standing on the opposite side of the goal. Ipswich were reduced to ten men in the 67th minute when Abdul Fatawu received a second yellow card for diving during a challenge by James Garner, having picked up his first caution for a foul on Dewsbury-Hall.

Chance creation and squad depth

Everton controlled territorial play throughout the afternoon, producing 21 total shots while limiting the visitors. David Moyes saw his team test Walton with only two attempts on target, though Barry missed another opportunity when heading wide from an Ainsley Maitland-Niles cross. Everton operate with Barry as their only senior striker following deadline-day transfer complications, having also sold forward Iliman Ndiaye during the window. Moyes evaluated the attacking performance and shot conversion rate after the final whistle.

Today we had 21 shots and only two on target so that is not any good. But the 21 shots is good.

Moyes refreshed his lineup in the closing stages, introducing Tyler Dibling for Johnson in the 66th minute and Omari George for Jack Grealish in the 79th minute. Everton secured the points with stoppage-time defensive substitutions, bringing on Jake O'Brien and Lewis Hackney in the 91st minute.

League position and cautious outlook

The victory moved Everton to fifth in the Premier League table with nine points from five games, courtesy of two wins and three draws. The squad sits three points behind the top of the table after generating a transfer-market profit during the summer window. Moyes declined to discuss European qualification targets, recalling the late-season drop Everton suffered in the 2025-26 campaign. A 3-0 victory against Chelsea in March had positioned Everton in eighth place and three points off Champions League qualification, before a seven-match winless run dropped the side to a 13th-place finish.

We are not using those words this year.

That late slump left Everton four points adrift of Brighton in the Conference League berth and five points behind Sunderland, who took Europa League spots alongside Bournemouth and Crystal Palace. Moyes had taken over in January 2025 when Everton faced relegation danger, integrating 12 to 13 new players before steering the team up the table. While Moyes acknowledged that he openly embraced European hopes last year, he emphasized that squad preparation remains ongoing and public targets will stay out of media discussions.