Anjishnu Roy 20/01/2026 12comments  |  Jump to last

Thierno Barry believes Everton “played with heart” against Aston Villa to secure a fantastic 1-0 win at Villa Park.

The French striker scored his first winner for the club just before the hour-mark, chipping Emiliano Martinez at his near post. It was Barry’s third goal in the last four league matches as the summer signing is starting to pick up a scoring streak after a slow start to life in a royal blue shirt.

"I saw Martinez coming out fast and I said in my head, 'Okay, I need to try the chip', and it went in, so it makes me very happy,” Barry said after the game.

"It's the first time [I've scored a winner] this season. I'm very happy to score again, I'm always preparing to score and for it to give us the win, I'm very happy.

"I think it's an important moment. The week before we didn't do good, so we wanted to give an answer, a good answer, to that performance.

"We played with heart – and that's why we won."

Barry scored twice against Nottingham Forest this season and also scored in the 4-2 loss against Brentford before his winner against Unai Emery’s high-flying Villa side. The summer signing was criticised after a poor penalty in the Toffees’ FA Cup loss to Sunderland in the shootout.

Despite the disappointment of missing his penalty, the 23-year-old ended up giving the 3,000 travelling Evertonians a reason to sing his name in celebration after the win at Villa Park.

"I think [the fans singing my name] is a good thing for me," said Barry. "The last game I didn't score my penalty and I felt very bad for this because it's only the second-ever penalty I've missed in my career. 

"When I came today, in my head, I knew I had to play well for the fans. I played for them, and I'm very happy to score, which helps put the previous game in the past.

"I don't know about the statistics but always when I go to the pitch, I'm wanting to score goals."

 

Reader Comments (12)

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Ajay Gopal
1 Posted 20/01/2026 at 15:27:55
Barry played really well last weekend. He won almost every header, which was reminiscent of Calvert-Lewin in his best games. And he worked really hard all game, and his finish was of a striker with confidence. I feel really happy for him after the troubles he had initially. Hopefully he can keep his goal scoring run going. I would be delighted if he were to end the season with a double digit tally. That would a very decent return for a player coming into the PL in his 1st season.
Mick O\'Malley
2 Posted 20/01/2026 at 15:42:24
Ajay agreed, it's his first season in the PL, theres going to be ups and downs, games where he he is less.effective but I've been behind the lad since he came, I was absolutely delighted he scored the winner and what a finish it was, as you say he won plenty in the air, brought others into the game laying the ball off, he pressed, chased and battled, he needs to bulk up a bit, get stronger, we'll just have to be a bit patient with him, one things for sure he's a far better player than Beto, come on lad prove your doubters wrong
Anthony Hawkins
3 Posted 20/01/2026 at 16:55:35
The question Barry now poses is do you stick or twist with him? Does the club go looking for a new striker or do they run the risk of Barry clamming up again? Beto absolutely has to go and needs replacing, but do you go with someone who would be first in line, potentially undermining Barry's confidence?
Alan McGuffog
4 Posted 20/01/2026 at 17:31:33
Absolutely no point getting shut now. Our season is over, basically, so use the remaining fixtures to see how he measures up. Save our brass till summer if he's proves a waste of space. In the meantime let's get behind him
Kieran Kinsella
5 Posted 20/01/2026 at 18:02:47
He has scored 3 in the last 5 games now. So after that long goalless spell for the first three months of the season his confidence must be rising which can only be good. So agreeing with Mick and Alan I would certainly persevere with him and see how the rest of the season goes.
Mike Gaynes
6 Posted 20/01/2026 at 18:04:25
Alan #4, agree completely. He needs PL experience, confidence and about 15 pounds of muscle to make it in this league, and he can accumulate much of the first two in our remaining games this season. Give the kid a chance to win his spurs, and if he can't, summer is soon enough to replace him.
David West
7 Posted 20/01/2026 at 20:43:21
Mike 6. Agree. This lad has all the physical attributes, his touch is good, he has awareness to bring players in.

He needs to be given time. Yes, we all want 25 goals a season from our centre-forward, but that's £70M, £80M... He could turn out to be a steal at £25M.

These are the gambles other clubs like Bournemouth, Brighton etc take, and we know how often we're told we should be able to buy players cheap like them!!

They develop them though, like we need to develop Barry.
His career is on an upwards curve, whereas we bought Beto at his peak.

Barry showed with his finish on the weekend he's miles above Beto already. Play him every week!!

Bob Parrington
8 Posted 22/01/2026 at 04:29:46
If that is true, that Barry said those words, we have added a good Everton player to our midst.

Well done, Thierno!

Bob Parrington
9 Posted 22/01/2026 at 04:44:31
And how many players have we seen with the skill and forethought to make that chip over the goalkeeper?
Mick O\'Malley
10 Posted 22/01/2026 at 08:32:16
Bob agreed, it was a great finish, if Beto would have been in that position, he'd have probably fallen over the ball, or kicked Martinez in the head!

Besides the goal, I thought he led the line well, he pressed, chased and brought others into play, his best performance for Everton.

Dave Abrahams
11 Posted 22/01/2026 at 11:01:59
I like the lad's humility: after the game, quietly enjoying the supporters giving our players a great reception, not running over wildly but just walking around appreciating the applause.

Humility is a wonderful trait, especially with today's footballers. You don't see much of it... Seamus Colman is a good example of it though.

Darren Hind
12 Posted 22/01/2026 at 12:54:38
Deffo needs a decent pan of scouse down him.

Sometimes I want to pull my jumper over my head when I see him stumble over a ball or try to control it with his shins or knees. At times he has looked very, very, uncomfortable with the ball but I feel there is still lots to work with.

He wins plenty of headers, although he doesn't seem able (yet) to direct those headers to a blue shirt or even at goal. That can definitely be worked on and he may not be Usian Bolt, but he is fast enough to make sure he is not for catching when he gets away.

His finishes have been clinical. The one at Villa was delightful.

We need to stop fizzing the ball into his feet when he has his back to goal and expecting him to control it and play football. That's not what he is about.

That said, you don't have to be a great footballer to be a great goal scorer. Gerd Muller and Gary Lineker are two of the best goalscorers the game has seen. Neither could play football for toffee.

I'm not suggesting young Barry is in that bracket, but there may be an awful lot more to come from him. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he was to get another 6-7 goals this season.

Of course we should persevere with him.

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