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 since the seventh minute, Palace looked to have lost all hope after 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.

With a tea-time kick-off on Bonfire Night, a family-friendly crowd might have had a right to expect fireworks. The match duly began at a furious pace with the visitors throwing five men forward from the kick-off and Palace’s forwards buzzing assertively around the German back line. But these early impressions turned out to be misleading and a seventh-minute goal showed why.

Firstly Palace lost their focus. Perhaps distracted by shouts for a penalty, Wharton gave possession away cheaply about 20 yards from the Hoffenheim goal. From there the Germans advanced with limited numbers and optimum efficiency. There were just three touches before the ball was worked out to the right hand side and Tim Lemperle, who had seen Alexander Prass advancing into the Palace half before the ball had reached him. Lemperle’s first time cross was spot on, as was the strike from left winger Prass, who hit the ball immediately and forced Dean Henderson into a save. That save was too slow, however, and the ball squirmed through Henderson’s midriff before rolling slowly over the line.

The Palace support did not moan and carrried on cheering. Sadly the players did not respond in desired fashion and Hoffenheim should have scored again through a Andrej Kramaric volley in the 23rd minute, well saved by Henderson on this occasion, before Palace started to work their way into the game.

Yéremy Pino was the focus of the home side’s hopes and he was both Palace’s brightest spark and their greatest frustration. He could find the gaps that no one else could but his delivery was either innacurate or overcomplicated, with a tendency to flick the ball when a simple square pass would have done the job. In the 28th minute, he did at least find the right weight on a through ball to Kamada, only for his fellow number 10 in Pierre Sage’s system to pull his cross shot beyond Oliver Baumann’s far post.

On the half hour Jean-Phillipe Mateta, playing like a shadow of his former self, had a soft header saved and screwed a good opportunity wide. Pino saw a long range effort deflected over the bar. But Hoffenheim had an opportunity bettter than any of those before half-time arrived, Ozan Kabak – once of Liverpool – heading over at a corner when unmarked six yards out.

The second half began with another burst of intensity from Palace, but it fizzled out again and within 10 minutes Sage had made a double change, pulling Kamada back into midfield and bringing Eddie Nketiah into the front three to strengthen Palace’s finishing options. Hoffenheim had crafted another decent opportunity of their own by this point, but Fisnik Asilani placed his shot wide from distance after muscling his way through the Palace defence.

Frustration began to mount among the crowd from the hour mark, both at Palace players and the match officials. In the 66th minute Palace created their best chance of the match, when Wharton faked to shoot from the edge of the box, cut left and slipped in Pino who looked to shoot over the advancing Baumann only for the keeper to stand his ground and deflect the ball to safety.

You might have thought a rally could spring from there, but no. Hoffenheim soon won a couple of corners on the bounce and killed any Palace momentum. Sage sought to shake things up again with more subs, but then saw that endeavour undercut after Wharton was sent off.

The England international had earned a yellow card in the 58th minute after mistiming a challenge and he made a poor mistake again in the 77th as he led with his elbow in contesting a header. Horatiu Fesnic did not need a second look and despite Wharton’s protestations the referee showed him a second card.

A sense of injustice did at least succeed in inducing a bit of pep into Palace’s performance, albeit not to any immediate avail. Hoffenheim were efficient at running down the clock whenever they could. If there was to be respite from Palace’s perilous Premier League condition, it was going to need a bit of fortune, and Kamada duly seized upon it when it arrived.