Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored a late goal at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Friday night as Everton came from behind to beat Coventry City 3-1, hours after he was left out of the England squad.
The 28-year-old found out that morning that Thomas Tuchel had not picked him for this month’s Nations League games. BBC Sport reported that Borussia Dortmund teenager Jobe Bellingham was chosen instead.
Dewsbury-Hall said afterwards: “It’s a massive dream of mine to play for my country.” He told Sky Sports he was sad but proud of how he had reacted. Tuchel said earlier in the day that Dewsbury-Hall had been “very close”.
Barry turns the game
Coventry took the lead through Yann Gboho early in the second half. Sky Sports reported that Thierno Barry levelled in the 57th minute, heading in at the back post from a Dewsbury-Hall cross.
Barry added a second within five minutes, and Everton were ahead. Dewsbury-Hall then finished the job in the 81st minute. Barry slid a pass through to him, and he fired in at the near post from a tight angle.
The result lifted Everton to fifth. Coventry stayed 16th. It was Everton’s third straight win in all competitions, according to AFP, and Lampard’s side have now lost three of their last four.
Barry has 10 goals for the season in all competitions, already more than the eight he managed last season. Only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has more among Premier League players, with 14.
Dewsbury-Hall has 11 league goals and seven assists for Everton since the start of last season. He said he enjoys the “hybrid role” David Moyes has given him, and that he would keep pushing. The next international break is in March.
Lampard’s grievances
Lampard, who managed Everton from January 2022 to January 2023, was left unhappy with three decisions, all of which went against his side.
The first was a first-half appeal for a penalty when Everton’s James Tarkowski pulled the hair of Coventry’s Caleb Yirenkyi. Reuters reported, via the Express Tribune, that referee Stuart Attwell rejected the appeals and VAR cleared the challenge.
The second was a claim that Vitalii Mykolenko fouled Taiwo Awoniyi on the edge of the area. Sky Sports said the incident was ruled to be outside the box.
The third was Barry’s second goal, which Coventry felt he handled in. VAR Timothy Wood found no handball offence. Sky Sports said VAR saw “no conclusive evidence”.
Lampard disagreed. “The Barry one is handball,” he said, adding that he had seen an angle showing a flick with the final touch. On Tarkowski, he said the rule is that a hair pull is a foul, so he felt it was one.
Moyes, speaking after the game, rejected the handball claim. Cyprus Mail carried his response: “It certainly doesn’t hit his hand.” He also called the hair-pull rule “ridiculous”. Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp said that on his reading the ball did touch Barry’s hand.
Moyes also equalled Harry Catterick’s record for most games as Everton manager on Friday, with 592 matches each. Catterick was in charge from 1961 to 1973.
Sources: Sky Sports, Express Tribune (Reuters), Yahoo Sports (AFP), Cyprus Mail, BBC Sport
This story was compiled by the MDW Newsdesk with AI-assisted tools, using the reporting credited above.
