Thierno Barry continued his dramatic turnaround in form on Monday night, scoring against Newcastle United for the second time in five days to help Everton secure a deserved Premier League victory at St James' Park. The win saw the Toffees hold off the hosts to climb into seventh place. Barry has now netted eight goals in just 12 matches this season, matching his total tally from the entire previous campaign, which took him 41 appearances to achieve.
Barry's prolific run has made him indispensable to manager David Moyes, especially with the 24-year-old standing as Everton's only recognised senior striker following Beto's transfer to Fiorentina. Only Erling Haaland, with 13 goals, has scored more than Barry's eight across all competitions among Premier League players this term. It marks a striking contrast to the Frenchman's early days on Merseyside after arriving from Villarreal for £27m. The forward, who grew up watching Wayne Rooney and Romelu Lukaku score for the Toffees, registered just one shot in his first 16 games and revealed last month that he had broken down during a private training session last season.
Barry illustrated both his persistence and opportunism at St James' Park. After latching onto Jarrad Branthwaite's flick-on earlier in the match, he scuffed an effort when through on goal, but later converted a two-yard tap-in with an expected goals (xG) rating of 0.995. The goal sparked protests from Newcastle manager Matthias Jaissle, who told BBC Sport there was "a clear foul on Fabian Schar" in the build-up. Barry celebrated regardless, producing a knee slide followed by dance moves.
Despite previous criticism for wastefulness, Barry leads the Premier League in big chance involvement proportion, having featured in 15 of Everton's 24 big chances (62.5%) ahead of Monday's fixture. Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports: "We know Barry misses chances, but we also know this season he keeps going and he scores goals." Moyes was equally pleased, noting: "We're thrilled he's getting the goals because you need your centre-forward to score. He has missed a few but thankfully tonight he was on the spot to get the goal." Barry, pleased with his summer preparations, added: "The season is long but I'm happy to help the team with my goals."