Kamada’s late leveller rescues point for 10-man Crystal Palace and denies Hoffenheim
The Guardian · Paul MacInnes ·
Daichi Kamada scored a stoppage-time equaliser for Crystal Palace to earn a 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim after Adam Wharton was sent off
A late, late strike from Daichi Kamada saved Crystal Palace from embarrassment and another round of navel gazing as they snatched a Europa League draw with Hoffenheim against the odds.
After being outplayed by a side currently in the bottom half of the Bundesliga, and a goal down from the seventh minute, Palace looked to have lost all hope in this fixture when Adam Wharton was dismissed with 13 minutes to go. But after Hoffenheim failed to clear a goalmouth scramble in added time, Kamada fired home under the keeper to generate a rare moment of elation at Selhurst Park this season.
After the match, the beleaguered Pierre Sage struggled to put a positive gloss on events. Asked if he thought his team had deserved their point, he said it “depended on the moment of the game”, and while he had praise for his side’s attitude he was critical of their tactical performance. “Offensively we did better than our two previous games but we have to continue to improve defensively”, he said. “We gave up too much space to the opponent and sometimes we had difficulty in duels. When we try to attack a little bit we are very quickly open.”
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