Pierre Sage avoided the worst of the mounting pressure as Crystal Palace found a late equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) through Daichi Kamada.
Kamada is more familiar than most with Hoffenheim, having played them eight times during his time in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt, and he briefly thought he had opened the scoring until the offside flag went up.
Moments after believing they had the lead, Palace found themselves behind, as Dean Henderson somehow allowed Alexander Prass’ effort to squirm underneath him at the end of a clinical breakaway.
The captain went some way to making amends between the sticks midway through the half, producing a remarkable reaction save from Andrej Kramaric to keep the deficit down.
The visitors had accumulated six attempts before Palace managed their first effort at goal, although that was nearly all that it took to find the equaliser.
Kamada was in the thick of things again, flicking a clever effort narrowly wide of the post with the outside of his boot. Sage’s team began to gain some momentum, and veteran goalkeeper Oliver Baumann was called into action twice in quick succession to deny Jean-Philippe Mateta, but Die Kraichgauer saw out the half with their lead intact.
The Eagles redoubled their efforts after the break, heartened by the fact that their opponents have conceded 13 out of 16 league goals in the second half of their games this season.
The English side still looked vulnerable on the break, however, and Fisnik Asllani should really have tested Henderson, albeit having potentially strayed marginally offside. Frustrations began to boil over, with Palace amassing four yellow cards within 21 minutes of the restart.
Adam Wharton and Yeremy Pino were both among the players to go into the book, although the pair nearly combined for the leveller, with Baumann forced into an excellent save to keep out the Spaniard’s close-range effort.
However, the indiscipline came home to roost for the Eagles, with Wharton given his marching orders for a second yellow card after leading with his elbow.
That should have ended any meaningful hopes of a comeback, but Palace kept on coming, and Kamada bookended the contest by dramatically finding the net, with no flag to thwart him this time.
Continental form has been a much-needed source of relief for Palace, who remain unbeaten in their eight European games at Selhurst Park.
For their part, Hoffenheim missed a golden chance for their first back-to-back wins in Europe since 2020/21.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alexander Prass (Hoffenheim)
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