Crystal Palace 1-1 Hoffenheim: Daichi Kamada on target in stoppage time to ease pressure on Pierre Sage

Alexander Prass opened the scoring when his effort squeezed under Dean Henderson in the seventh minute of the contest, and Palace could not find a reply.Wharton was dismissed in the 77th minute in south London, 19 minutes after he was first booked following an aerial challenge.Just as it looked like the already under-pressure Pierre Sage was heading for another defeat, Kamada found the back of the net in second-half stoppage time.Kamada had the ball in the back of the net in the fourth minute, the end of a set-piece sequence, but the offside flag was raised.The Germans then made it a nightmare start for the hosts, who did not react quickly enough on a counter-attack and allowed the visitors to work the ball to Tim Lemperle, who delivered a lovely cross to Prass.His low shot initially looked straightforward enough for Henderson, but the Palace captain could not contain his initial stop and the ball trickled with an agonising inevitability towards, then across, the line.Read MoreHoffenheim remained in the driver’s seat, and there were numerous chances for the visitors to pad their lead – Fisnik Asllani fizzed a shot wide, threatening enough to draw a dive from Henderson, who later saved a second effort from the Kosovo international, then one from Andrej Kramaric.Palace finally enjoyed a sustained spell of attack around the half hour. Kamada flashed an effort across the face of goal, just wide, and Jean-Philippe Mateta first tried to nod home, then called Oliver Baumann into a rare stop.Palace were giving the ball away too easily as the second half got under way, and they were lucky to avoid conceding for a second time when Kramaric was released but curled wide of the left upright.Sage made a double-change five minutes before the hour, swapping Quinten Timber and Anan Khalaili for Eddie Nketiah and Oscar Mingueza.It took another 10 minutes for the hosts to have a real crack at an equaliser and the crowd, which had fallen flat, was roused back into life when Yeremy Pino, teed up by Wharton, called Baumann into action with a low effort.Wharton had been booked for the first time two minutes before the hour and was given his marching orders after he was shown a second yellow following an aerial challenge and coming-together with Wouter Burger.Adam Wharton is banned for Crystal Palace’s next Europa League gameGettySeveral Palace players, including a bewildered Wharton, vehemently protested, but the referee was unmoved and the hosts were reduced to 10.The introduction of Dario Osorio, replacing Mateta, infused a bit more life back into the hosts, though an equaliser rarely looked imminent.But Kamada, who was one of the hosts’ brightest lights on what had been a lacklustre evening, drew the sides level in the first minute of stoppage time.There was an initial Tyrick Mitchell header into the penalty area, where the ball fell loose, eventually landing at the feet of the Japan midfielder, who found the back of the net through the legs of Baumann.