Everton's Harrison Armstrong vies for possession with Ipswich Town's Jack Clarke
Everton's Harrison Armstrong vies for possession with Ipswich Town's Jack Clarke(Image: Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images)
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It’s often said that when a striker requires a goal, he just needs a shot to go in off his backside, and that’s what Thierno Barry did when coming off the bench to grab Everton’s late match-winner at Newcastle United on February 28.
The unusual strike proved such a landmark moment in the campaign that the ECHO’s Royal Blue podcast host Ian Croll included it as a question in his end-of-season quiz – all three participants correctly answered “right cheek” in what was a 50/50 chance en route to this correspondent’s famous victory over intellectual heavyweights Joe Thomas and Gavin Buckland.
Well, now Barry is at it again. Great strikers find ways to score with different parts of their body and the Frenchman can count deflecting a James Tarkowski volley into the net off his chest to his repertoire, regardless of how much he actually knew about it. While that was a slice of good fortune, having a second goal chalked off for Brennan Johnson being offside was cruel on both Barry and Everton – more on that shortly – but even if the esteemed aforementioned Mr Thomas says he is a player who is now “missing his chances better” than last season, he’s also taking them as well.
It took Barry 17 matches to break his duck in English football in 2025/26, with his breakthrough moment not arriving until the 3-0 romp against Nottingham Forest on December 6. He now has five goals for the fledgling campaign, a tally that he didn’t reach until January 26 last time out.
Armstrong progress
Talking of year-on-year progression, this time 12 months ago, Harrison Armstrong was in the engine room for Preston North End as they triumphed 1-0 at Pride Park against a Derby County side with whom he had spent the second half of the previous season on loan. Now, after being ruled out of Everton’s 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Wolves three days earlier, the teenager returned to the place he has occupied for the bulk of the campaign.
Although Armstrong picked up a second consecutive yellow card at Hill Dickinson Stadium in the dying seconds, following on from his booking for grabbing Bruno Fernandes in the previous home game – we subsequently saw in the Manchester Derby how the United captain can make the most of contact from an opponent – that’s something of an occupational hazard for regulars in his position. And that’s just what the West Derby prospect has been so far.
Armstrong has featured in all but three minutes of the Blues’ Premier League fixtures this season with his only respite coming at the end of the 1-1 draw at Bournemouth played against the backdrop that Nottingham Forest were advancing a transfer for him, prompting Evertonians to threaten to riot. While Christian Norgaard continues to be sidelined with a frustrating injury, the young Scouser has taken his chance with both hands at little more than half the age of the departed player he has replaced, Idrissa Gueye.
Such promise has made a mockery of The Friedkin Group’s initial decision to cash in on the club’s brightest home-grown hero. If only he could improve his shooting as there was another late opportunity to break his duck here.
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Dibling cameo
Armstrong’s development despite his tender years is even more impressive when you consider where some of the other senior members of the Everton squad where at the same age. Jack Grealish had only just returned from a loan spell at Notts County while captain James Tarkowski was turning out for Oldham Athletic.
So, everyone has to maintain a degree of perspective when it comes to assessing Tyler Dibling, who is still five months shy of his 21st birthday. Understandably, big things were expected from the winger when the Blues made him their most expensive summer signing of 2025 even if it was a £35million fee rather than the £50million Southampton had been asking for just a few weeks prior for a prospect they’d talked about as being the next £100million English player earlier in the year.
It’s fair to say that Exeter-born Dibling’s first year on Merseyside didn’t go to plan but having shown glimpses of his promise throughout pre-season, he built on what was hopefully a watershed display against Wolves with another bright display off the bench here. He’s starting to display just why he was so highly rated at the Saints and after being denied a first goal by a smart save from Christian Walton, it feels like he’s just one breakthrough moment away from potentially taking off.
Johnson decisions
Having already broken his scoring duck against Preston North End, Brennan Johnson is already ahead at Everton where he was in 28 goalless matches for previous club Crystal Palace. For all of the rough edges that can still be ironed out in his general play, the Wales international is someone capable of finding the net as a quartet of double-figure returns in previous seasons show, including one as recently as 2024/25 when he struck the winner for Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final with his 18th of the campaign.
Coming off the bench against Wolves, Johnson – playing as a striker on the night – could have netted on Wednesday and handed a start here, back in his more regular right-wing position, he again should have registered with an early opportunity that was even more clearcut. Given that David Moyes inherited a Blues squad that had Jesper Lindstrom and Jack Harrison as the options in this position, there has to be considerably more promise from the 25-year-old.
Here he can count himself unlucky as being the patsy punished for a high-profile refereeing blunder when it came to VAR and offside in the Manchester Derby six days earlier. Given that Barry remains Everton’s only recognised centre-forward, Johnson’s sharpness in the opposition area could prove a crucial element in the months ahead though.
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