**Everton’s Premier League campaign began with a win over Crystal Palace.**
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall opened the scoring shortly before the half-time interval with a rocketed effort from the lefthand side of the penalty area.
David Moyes’ side doubled their lead shortly after the break when Thierno Barry headed home Iliman Ndiaye’s cross in front of the South Stand.
The Blues’ first opening day victory since 2021 moved them up to third in a nascent Premier League table with eight teams yet to play opening fixtures.
_Here were the key talking points from Hill Dickinson Stadium:_
Blues find unity in fractious week
----------------------------------
Andy Burnham was present the start of Everton’s latest top flight campaign and played a part in his boyhood heroes’ first opening day win since 2021.
The new UK prime minister called David Moyes in advance of Crystal Palace’s visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium to send a good luck message.
But Burnham’s words will have provided more than well wishes in a week when cracks appeared at Hill Dickinson Stadium before a ball was kicked.
Moyes had been in the crosshairs after Angus Kinnear claimed The Friedkin Group saw last season as ‘a failure’, [something the Scot directly countered](https://www.clickliverpool.com/sport/everton-fc/67411-david-moyes-disputes-everton-failure-claims-friedkin-group/).
There are three sides to any story. In this case it is Moyes’s version of events against those put forward by Kinnear and the actual truth of the matter.
Yet the Blues’ manager can at least point to a largely solid account against the Eagles which exploded into life after a few near misses in the first half.
His side could have been several goals down to the visitors, who were thriving under new head coach Pierre Sage, but for Jordan Pickford’s regular heroics.
Once Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall let fly shortly before the interval, the tide had fully turned to give Evertonians an afternoon of unity after a chastening week.
Armstrong ready for midfield battle
-----------------------------------
For a second season running, Harrison Armstrong’s Everton future is in limbo.
The homegrown midfielder showed flashes of brilliance in his fleeting first-team appearances but seemingly not enough for an extended run of starts.
Armstrong’s challenge is only set to grow with a returning James Garner and new signing Christian Norgaard to rival him for a spot in the bank of two.
However the West Derby native is well placed for the fight with his engine room cohorts if his latest display against Palace is anything to go on.
Partnering another summer recruit in Hayden Hackney, Armstrong illustrated why he should not be farmed out for another loan spell in the transfer window.
Daichi Kamada was left chasing shadows for large parts of this encounter by the 19-year-old’s routine moments of cunning to open up spaces for himself.
Armstrong’s haring of Daniel Munoz that led to Everton’s opener should also give Moyes food for thought on a move for the purported right-back target.
That he was allowed to last the full 90 minutes despite Garner’s introduction offers an indication that he is more than capable of meeting the challenge.
Munoz audition offers mixed reviews
-----------------------------------
Everton’s summer has been dominated by their search for a right-back; a quest which currently shows no signs of coming to fruition anytime soon.
Moyes, the fanbase – including Burnham – and hierarchy have all clamoured for a long-term successor to Seamus Coleman but currently to little avail.
As he had done in pre-season, Merlin Rohl found himself tasked with filling the void but the midfielder was not the only viable contender on the pitch.
Munoz has been regularly name-checked in recent weeks as a potential panacea after moves for Alistair Johnston and Timothy Castagne fell short.
The Colombian’s latest visit to Bramley-Moore Dock doubled as an audition for a prospective switch here ahead of next month’s transfer deadline.
In the opening stages, he was a regular thorn in the hosts’ side and even tested Pickford with a stabbed effort which the England No.1 clawed away.
He also spurned a gilt-edged opportunity to draw Palace level shortly before the break by heading Kamada’s cross wide of the South Stand’s goalmouth.
By then, flaws in Munoz’s overall game had already emerged and his withdrawal just 10 minutes into the second half left the jury firmly out.