Hoffenheim drops late point at Crystal Palace, Freiburg wins 1:0 at Trabzonspor

Hoffenheim's late equaliser in London

Hoffenheim went ahead at Selhurst Park in the seventh minute, when a quick counterattack down the right ended with Alexander Prass finishing from a half-left position at full stride. Crystal Palace had a goal in the fourth minute ruled out for offside against Daichi Kamada, and the visitors controlled much of the first half. Hoffenheim created the better chances, including a close-range effort that the Palace goalkeeper saved in the 23rd minute. Palace grew into the game later, and Kamada's effort struck with the outside of his foot flew narrowly wide of the far post. Hoffenheim led 1:0 at the break.

Red card and stoppage-time goal

Palace's Adam Wharton was shown a yellow-red card in the 77th minute, leaving Hoffenheim with a numerical advantage for the rest of the match. Despite that, the Bundesliga side conceded in stoppage time when Kamada equalised at 90+1. Christian Ilzer had made two changes from the 0:2 defeat at Werder Bremen, bringing Prass in for a player sidelined by muscle problems. Hoffenheim had also lost its DFB-Pokal tie at Holstein Kiel and had been beaten in its earlier European matches by OFI Crete and Besiktas Istanbul before beating Olympique Lyon 3:0. Before kickoff Ilzer said the aim was to build confidence for the league ahead.

“It is about gaining confidence on the international stage for the tasks in the league.”

The draw leaves Hoffenheim, currently 12th in the Bundesliga, with reduced chances of reaching the playoffs, according to N-tv. Crystal Palace, the Conference League winners, sit 18th in the Premier League table.

Freiburg win in Trabzon

In the Conference League, Freiburg beat Trabzonspor 1:0 in Turkey, with the only goal coming from Lukas Kübler in the 14th minute. The Breisgau side are coached by Julian Schuster and recorded their sixth point from three matches at the halfway point of the league phase. Thomas Reis coaches Trabzonspor, the Turkish cup winners, and Mohamed Salah had a frustrating evening for the home side. Freiburg currently sit third in the Bundesliga table.

Other European results

Olympique Lyon drew 1:1 at Real Sociedad, while Viktoria Pilsen won 1:0 at Lilleström. Bournemouth beat Sparta Prague 3:1 and remained unbeaten, and Ferencváros won 2:0 at Milan.