Thierno Barry celebrates a goal for Everton in the 3-1 win vs Coventry.
Thierno Barry celebrates a goal for Everton in the 3-1 win vs Coventry.
After a dull first half ended with a penalty shout for the away side at Hill Dickinson Stadium after James Tarkowski pulled Caleb Yirenkyi's hair in the box, the match sparked into life after the break.
Coventry took the lead through Yann Gboho and also thought they should have had a second penalty before VAR decided that a Vitalii Mykolenko challenge made impact outside of the box.
Thierno Barry then scored a quickfire double in the 56th and 61st minutes before Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall rounded off the win in the 81st minute.
However, there was a lot of controversy surrounding Barry's second goal.
Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie thought it should have been ruled out but a new announcement from the Premier League Match Centre has shed light on the incident.
Why Thierno Barry's goal could have been ruled out
It was no doubt a scrappy goal by Barry, but initial replays did seem to suggest that the ball came off his hand before the ball found its way into the back of Carl Rushworth's net.
However, after a VAR check, the goal was allowed to stand, before footage of a new angle seemed to show that the ball might not have hit the Everton striker's hand.
On-field referee Stuart Attwell didn't spot the initial incident but VAR Timothy Wood didn't believe that there was a reason to send Attwell to the pitchside monitor.
“Okay, that’s his side that's definitely not hand. Confirming the on-field decision of goal, check complete," said Wood, as quoted by the Premier League Match Centre's official X account.
#EVECOV – 62’
The referee’s call of goal to Everton was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that Barry did not commit a handball offence.
VAR: “Okay, that’s his side that's definitely not hand. Confirming the on-field decision of goal, check complete”.
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) November 6, 2026
Sky Sports didn't show all of the angles of the incident right away, which may be what led to so many fans arguing that Barry did handle the ball.
However, there didn't seem to be anything conclusively showing that it did hit his hand when new angles were shown a few minutes later.
Is Barry a new cult hero for Everton?
Is Barry slowly joining a list of players that includes Tony Hibbert, Duncan Ferguson and Tim Cahill?
It sure seems that way, with the Frenchman notching goals left, right and centre right now for the Blues.
You have to say that after a poor debut campaign at the club last season, everyone had the right to worry about going into this term with Barry as David Moyes' only centre-forward option.
However, he now has 10 goals in all competitions - plus three assists - with four coming in his last three outings.
You have to say that Everton would not likely be fifth in the Premier League right now without the ex-Villarreal star, and might not be in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, either.
If the Toffees go on to win something this season or reach Europe, they'll definitely have Barry to thank.
For turning up when he was needed most, scoring goals for fun and celebrating them in such a way, he has all the makings of Hill Dickinson's first cult hero.