West Ham boss David Moyes admitted to being left mystified as to how the referee and his assistant came to the conclusion to award the stoppage-time goal that gave Bournemouth a 3-3 draw at Dean Court on Tuesday.
The Hammers were adamant that Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson had brushed the ball home with his arm, while assistant referee Simon Long raised his flag, sparking a lengthy debate with referee Bobby Madley that ended with the goal being awarded.
Moyes said he was left in disbelief that Madley had overruled his assistant to award Bournemouth the controversial equaliser.
"When the linesman's flag goes up you think 'we've got out of jail there a bit,''' said Moyes. "But to overrule the linesman's decision, I couldn't believe.
"I think you could question the offside, because it looks pretty level. But what you can't do is question that the Bournemouth player [Wilson] put it in with the top of his arm.
"When I saw the commotion I thought there was no way [Madley] would overturn it."
Dan Gosling and Nathan Ake had Bournemouth hoping for a 2-1 win after James Collins had opened the scoring for West Ham.
But Marko Arnautovic bagged two goals in eight minutes to turn the tide late on, the first courtesy of a costly slip from home goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
Moyes kept his cool when assessing referee Madley's performance, but hit out at the officials for awarding Wilson's late leveller.
"I think he said the assistant referee only put his flag up to draw attention to it, and I've never heard of that ever," said Moyes, who confronted Madley on the field at full-time.
"If the assistant referee raises his flag, what would it be for? Offside. Arguably you could say that it was offside, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.
"But I can't give them any benefit of the doubt for their player raising his hand."
Wilson was relieved that the call went his way, saying: "Sometimes you get those decisions against you. I tried to go in as a striker and follow the ball in and put a little touch on it to our delight but not to West Ham's."
And asked what "touch" it was that proved decisive, Wilson joked: "Magic!"
Eddie Howe was left to lament two points he felt his Bournemouth side dropped, while still accepting Wilson's late equaliser probably should not have stood.
"Oh dear where do you start?" Howe said, with Bournemouth winless in eight league games and still in the relegation zone. "I didn't think it would be given because of the length of the conversation. It looks like we might have got away with one there.
"But I thought a draw was the least we deserved. I know it's difficult for West Ham to take. I'm bitterly disappointed not to have won, because overall I think we should have done."
Bournemouth captain Simon Francis caught Cheikhou Kouyate in the face with a high foot and escaped with a yellow card, but Moyes felt that decision was overly lenient.
Asked if Francis' challenge merited a red card, Moyes said: "I don't think he looks at the player. But I think in any other country in the world that would have been a sending off today.
"Do I think it's right? No I don't, because I don't think he meant it."