West Ham went down 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium against Stoke in the FA Cup quarter finals with boss Avram Grant unhappy with some of the decisions his side encountered in the second half, claiming James Tomkins should have had a penalty late on instead of being penalised for a foul on Jon Walters. He said he felt the referee tried to even things up after missing Frederick Piquionne's handball when he levelled the score for the Hammers.
"I think maybe this is the reason the referee started the second half very strange," he said in reference to the award of Stoke's penalty.
"Until they scored [the second] goal he gave fouls, a penalty, everything for them.
"It was a penalty for us at the end which he didn't give. What happened with Tomkins was more bushido (the Japanese code of conduct for samurai warriors).
"Maybe he felt a little bit guilty. I think it was the effect of the first goal for us."
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