London (AFP) - French striker Tierno Barry continued his remarkable brilliance by scoring two goals and leading Everton to victory over its guest Coventry 3-1 on Friday at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool in the opening of the tenth round of the English Premier League.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 23:21

Scottish coach David Moyes' team found itself trailing to a goal by Ivory Coast's Yann Gboho at the start of the second half (52), but Barry responded with a quick brace within just five minutes (56 and 61), giving his team the lead.

Moyes said this week that Manchester City's Norwegian international star Erling Haaland "should be worried" about the possibility of Barry replacing him as the most dangerous striker in the English Premier League.

Although this may be an exaggeration, Barry raised his tally to 10 goals this season, exceeding his entire tally in the 2025-2026 season.

That disappointing first season with Everton, following his move from Spain's Villarreal, has become just a distant memory for the 24-year-old player, who scored six goals in his last seven matches in various competitions.

Kieran Dewsbury-Hall added the third goal in the 81st minute, securing the third successive victory for his team in all competitions.

The victory was a special occasion for Moyes, who equaled Harry Catterick's record of 592 matches as Everton coach.

Catrick had led Everton to win the English Premier League title (1962-1963 and 1969-1970) and the FA Cup (1965-1966), while Moyes, in his second period with the team, is still waiting for the club to end its title drought since 1995.

The results of the last ten days indicate that Everton is moving in the right direction.

The two victories over Newcastle in the League Cup and the English Premier League were followed by a deserved victory over Coventry, all of which were achieved in the absence of Jack Grealish, who was suspended for a disciplinary violation after reports indicated that he was absent from one of the training sessions.

On the other hand, Frank Lampard, Coventry coach, was disappointed after refusing to award two penalty kicks to his team that could have turned the tide of the match.

The return of Lampard, who coached Everton between January 2022 and January 2023, was not successful, as Coventry, ranked sixteenth, suffered its third defeat in the last four matches.

In the first confrontation between the two teams since 2001, Coventry was close to opening the scoring when Japanese Tatsuhiro Sakamoto passed a perfect ball to Jack Rodoni, but the midfielder shot directly into the arms of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Everton defender James Tarkowski escaped punishment after pulling Caleb Jerenecki's hair, in a shot that Coventry deemed worthy of a penalty kick and a red card.

The guests also felt injustice for the second time from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), after Ukrainian Vitaly Mikulenko's intervention on Nigerian Taiwo Onyi was not counted as a penalty kick immediately after the break.

Coventry finally succeeded in taking the lead in the 52nd minute, when Rodoni's pass made its way through poor monitoring by Everton's defense and reached Gboho, who was able to score the net from a distance of six yards despite being surrounded by three defenders.

But the Ivory Coast midfielder's goal, his first since his move from French club Toulouse during the summer transfer window, did not last long.

After just four minutes, Mikulenko sent an arching cross into the penalty area, which the unmarked Barry headed in from close range past Carl Rushworth.

Everton invested in its momentum and scored the second goal in the 62nd minute when Rushworth first blocked Barry's shot, but the French striker followed the rebound and put it into the net despite the objections of the Coventry players due to a handball.

In the 81st minute, Barry turned into a playmaker, passing a perfect ball to Dewsbury-Hall, who fired a powerful shot from a tight angle into the net, completing Everton's exciting comeback.

© 2026 AFP

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