Downhearted Kamada left Elland Park with his tail between his legs as Japanese star bottles it for Palace at Leeds

By Alessandro Schiavone

Sep 20

3 min read

By Alessandro Schiavone at Elland Road

Leeds United 0-0 Crystal Palace

Daichi Kamada looked dejected as he left Elland Road with countryman Tomiyasu after the game. And politely declined interview requests from the numerous Japanese reporters in attendance who had come for him, the ex-Arsenal defender and Tanaka.

Well, no surprise. He knows what every Crystal Palace supporter is fully aware of too: that he should have won them the game late on. And that bittersweet feeling around Selhurst Park won’t evaporate any time soon.

The Japan international planted a header wide from close range even though scoring would have been easier than missing! Fernando Torres tainted his stellar Merseyside reputation due to these kinds of misses at Chelsea 15 years ago. Yet in Kamada's defence, he saw it late as a Leeds player deflected the cross before it landed in his path. In his position, target men Mateta or Larsen would likely have buried it. But at this level, there’s no getting away with flopping in that manner, regardless of your position and height.

At 2:00 pm, a large majority of Palace fans would have bitten your hand off for a clean sheet and a draw against high-flying Leeds United. Yet the Eagles should have comfortably got the three points here. And this draw undeniably feels like a loss. Because the Conference League winners would have been one point outside the top-10 with two further points on board. Yet now they are just one point outside the relegation zone for the next 21 days or so. After a flat first-half from either side, the opening part of the second period was illusory and misleading for those of Palace persuasion. Yeremy Pino saw his free-kick parried by Trafford before Lerma scuffed an effort over from the resulting corner. Kamada himself tested the waters from a long way out, but his strike fizzled wide. That was followed by a disallowed Mitchell goal and Strand Larsen getting off a poor shot. In football matches there's no meritocracy and you don't get anything for playing well. And that wastefulness almost came back to haunt them when Dominic Calvert-Lewin forced an outstanding save out of deputy goalkeeper Walter Benitez after a great delivery by Jayden Bogle. That would have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

Most Palace players didn't look all too happy but it’s Kamada, normally so reliable and productive, going to international duty with his tail between his legs.

The ex-Lazio man will need those games against Uruguay, Venezia and Ecuador to get today’s blunder out of his system... hoping that it won't cost Sage his job. Unlikely but not impossible. Today's positives? The first clean sheet of the season. Something to build on.

Leeds United — 3-5-2

Starting XI