The Hammers were all set to pick up three points when Freddie Piquionne headed in a late goal. The striker was then sent off for running into the crowd to celebrate his dramatic goal.
West Ham’s defence was then undone by Marouane Fellaini deep into injury time to deny them what would have been a terrific three points.
Avram Grant fumed at the decision to send Piquionne off. “For me, Frederic Piquionne’s red card was a joke.”
“He scored a goal and wanted to celebrate with the supporters. Who, more than the supporters, deserves to celebrate a goal with the player who has just scored it?
“Our fans came all the way here to the game, they were behind us throughout the match and they wanted to celebrate with us. He should run to them, not to me.
“What do we do, tell the players to shake hands calmly and say: ‘Thank you?’ Football’s an emotional game. When I score a goal in our Thursday staff match, I celebrate and now I just hope they won’t start giving me a red card, too!”