Everton 3-0 Nottingham Forest: Dewsbury-Hall stars and Barry ends goal wait in comprehensive win
Sean Dyche endured an unhappy return to Merseyside as Everton cruised to a comfortable victory over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's fantastic display and Thierno Barry's first Premier League goal saw Everton claim a dominant 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
Sean Dyche's first return to his former club since parting ways with Everton at the start of the year ended in a comprehensive defeat as the Toffees surged into the upper reaches of the table on Saturday.
Everton took the lead after just 83 seconds as Dewsbury-Hall’s drilled cross-shot was inadvertently headed into the Forest net by Nikola Milenkovic.
The hosts then ended the first half exactly the way they began it: with a goal. Iliman Ndiaye broke at pace and teed up Barry, whose decisive side-footed effort ended his wait to get on the scoresheet for Everton.
Elliot Anderson was previously denied by a superb save from Jordan Pickford as chances came few and far between for Forest, who generated chances worth just 0.47 expected goals (xG), though they did see a Nicolas Dominguez's attempt cleared off the line by James Tarkowski midway through the second half.
Yet having struck the post with a curling first-time attempt, the brilliant Dewsbury-Hall got the goal his display deserved in the 80th minute when he drilled home to seal the points.
Data Debrief: Dewsbury-Hall drives Everton’s charge
Everton have now won three of their last five home league matches (D1 L1), as many as in their previous 11, while Saturday’s 3-0 victory stands as their biggest yet at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
And indeed, it was a stellar performance from Dewsbury-Hall to get them there. The 27-year-old has scored three goals in his last four Premier League outings, just one fewer than he managed across his first 82 appearances in the competition (four). The former Chelsea midfielder led Everton for shots (three), shots on target (two), duels (15) and duels won (nine).
Barry, meanwhile, finally ended his wait for an Everton goal after 737 minutes and 19 attempts, as the Toffees claimed a fourth win in five games.
