Crystal Palace narrowly scraped past Millwall in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
An equaliser from Ryan Leonard in the 91st minute sent the game to a shoot-out after Chris Richards had opened the scoring in the 72nd minute, where Walter Benitez was the hero on his debut as the Argentine saved two penalties.
While the South American deserves credit for saving Crystal Palace from an embarrassing result, Daichi Kamada also deserves a share of the spotlight for a mature, brave performance.
Daichi Kamada came of age at Crystal Palace in win over Millwall
Last season, a feisty cup clash against Millwall would have been the type of game that swallowed the Japan international up, as Kamada took some time to adapt to English football.
However, he ran the show on Tuesday, constantly dropping deep to collect the ball from the defenders and look to move it forward, showing real bravery in possession on a night where not enough of his Crystal Palace teammates looked to play forward enough.
Category Statistic
Top stats
Goals 0
Assists 0
Total shots 0
Accurate passes 50/62 (81%)
Chances created 3
Dribbles 0/1
Attack
Touches 50
Accurate crosses 0/0
Possession lost 19
Defence
Tackles won 3
Clearances 1
Interceptions 1
Dribbled past 1
Duels
Ground duels won 4/7
Aerial duels won 0/2
Was fouled 1
Fouls committed 0
(Sofascore)
The Crystal Palace No.18 completed 50 passes against Millwall – only Jaydee Canvot made more with 58 on his debut, which was impressive.
Kamada also had 80 touches of the ball – again, only Canvot had more with 85.
Crucially, three of Kamada’s 50 passes created goalscoring opportunities, with one particularly delightful reverse pass slotting Daniel Munoz through in the 93rd minute, creating a chance which Jean-Philippe Mateta ought to have dispatched.
Going back to our point about the 29-year-old struggling to adapt to English football last term, he looks much more physical this season, truly getting stuck in against Millwall with three tackles, one interception and one clearance.
Daichi Kamada in action for Crystal Palace during a Premier League clash against Sunderland
Photo by Sebastian Frej/Getty Images
It was a standout display from somebody who looked quite nervous and feeble on the pitch at times last season, with Kamada clearly becoming more of a leader on the pitch this term.
Steve Parish also has a Daichi Kamada concern along with Oliver Glasner
One of the main talking points at Selhurst Park right now is that Oliver Glasner becomes a free agent when his contract ends in July 2026.
However, Kamada also sees his deal expire at the end of this season, so we risk losing the man born in Ehime and Marc Guehi on free transfers this coming summer, as well as Glasner.
Kamada has worked with Glasner at Eintracht Frankfurt and Crystal Palace, so it cannot be ruled out that the Japanese playmaker follows the Austrian if he does decide to leave south London.