Thierno Barry double — Thierno Barry scored twice and set up another as Everton came from behind to beat Coventry City 3-1 at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Friday night, in a match overshadowed by three VAR reviews that went against the visitors.
Barry at the double
After Yann Gboho had given Coventry a 52nd-minute lead with a weaving run and finish past Jordan Pickford, Barry responded with two near-identical headers at the back post. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall supplied the cross for the equaliser on 57 minutes, and Barry nodded in again four minutes later, though Coventry protested that he had handled the ball in the build-up. VAR found no conclusive angle to overturn the goal.
Barry, Everton’s only available striker, then turned provider on 81 minutes, threading a pass for Dewsbury-Hall to fire in from a tight angle at Carl Rushworth’s near post. The goals took Barry’s season tally to ten.
VAR takes centre stage
Coventry’s sense of grievance began in the first half when James Tarkowski escaped punishment for an apparent hair pull on Caleb Yirenkyi inside the penalty area. VAR reviewed the incident, along with a possible handball in the same jump, and cleared both.
Early in the second half, Taiwo Awoniyi went down under a challenge from Vitalii Mykolenko as he ran towards the box. VAR checked the foul and determined that contact had occurred outside the penalty area, so no spot-kick was awarded. Those two calls loomed large when Gboho put Coventry ahead, only for Barry to swing the game back in Everton’s direction.
The visitors also felt Barry had used his hand in the move that led to his second goal, but the video review found no conclusive evidence to disallow it.
Context and consequences
The result lifts Everton to fifth, temporarily above Liverpool, while Coventry remain two points above the relegation zone and could drop into the bottom three by the end of the weekend. Dewsbury-Hall, left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad earlier on Friday, produced a strong response with a goal and an assist.
Everton’s evening was not without other chances. Rushworth saved from Mykolenko early on, Harrison Armstrong was denied by excellent defending from Victor Torp, and Pickford kept out a low drive from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto. But the night belonged to Barry and to the video reviews that left Coventry with a triple sense of frustration.
