Blues Edged By Palace In Season Opener

Everton commenced the 2026/27 season with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at the VBS Community Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Lexi Lloyd-Smith’s first-half strike decided the opener, with Club captain Megan Finnigan named amongst the substitutes to mark her first appearance in the matchday squad since January 2025.

Courtney Brosnan was trusted in between the sticks, with a backline of Maz Pacheco, Hikaru Kitagawa, Rion Ishikawa and Hannah Blundell in front of her – Kitagawa playing in the unfamiliar position of centre-back.

Clare Wheeler and Ruby Mace sat deep in midfield – the latter playing higher up the field after operating as a centre-back throughout last season. That allowed Zara Kramzar to roam in the ten, with a dangerous trio of Ornella Vignola, Holly McNamara and Yuka Momiki in front of her.

The hosts conjured up the first real chance of the afternoon as Shannon O’Brien looked to catch Brosnan with an audacious chip from 30-yards out. The forward dispossessed Pacheco and pulled the trigger instantly. Thankfully, she saw her effort sail in to the palms of the retreating keeper.

At the other end, Mace found space on the edge of the box on 24 minutes, but skewed her strike wide of the mark.

The Blues threatened once more five minutes later, as Kramzar was inches away from turning home Momiki’s dangerous free-kick.

It was the Eagles who broke the deadlock, though, as Lloyd-Smith slotted past Brosnan after creeping in behind the Blues’ backline.

Scott Phelan’s side looked to restore parity before the break, with Kramzar in the thick of the action once more. The Slovenian collected Momiki’s half-cleared set-piece from the right and prodded the ball at goal. Agonisingly, her strike rattled the woodwork and bounced out off the upright.

Phelan made his first changes of the affair on 67 minutes as Wheeler and Momiki made way for Rosa van Gool and Hannah Cain – the Wales international making her second debut for the Club after kickstarting her career with the Toffees.

Lloyd-Smith had the ball in the back of the net for a second time only two minutes later, but the linesman’s flag swiftly disallowed the goal. Shanade Hopcroft rattled the crossbar initially, with the forward eventually tapping home the dropdown from an offside position.

McNamara came inches away from making her Everton debut with a goal in the 78th minute. Following great work from Vignola, the Aussie clipped a curling effort narrowly over.

One minute later, Honoka Hayashi and Hannah Silcock replaced Kramzar and Blundell.

The Toffees continued to push throughout eight minutes of additional time, but ultimately failed to find a breakthrough in south London.

Everton return to the WSL’s most iconic venue on Sunday (2pm BST), as Charlton Athletic take to Goodison Park.

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