Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was convinced West Ham forward Andy Carroll deserved to be sent off on the stroke of halftime after clattering into goalkeeper David De Gea.
United were made to come from behind twice against West Ham in a 2-2 draw, with Robin Van Persie scoring a late equalizer.
Ricardo Vaz Te opened the scoring for the home side at Upton Park, before Antonio Valencia levelled things up. Mohamed Diame again gave the lead for West Ham with a brilliant strike, only for Van Persie to help United leave with a point.
The flashpoint of the game came just before halftime, when Carroll, causing trouble to United all game, smashed into De Gea off a corner, leaving Ferguson fuming at the touchline.
Nothing was given by the referee, and Ferguson bemoaned the lack of protection given to his side.
"We know how they play," he told the club's official website. "The ball is in the air most of the time and you have to defend those things. They were very aggressive as you've seen tonight.
"There's no doubt it's a red card (for the challenge on De Gea). It's obvious. The referee saw it differently. We're looking for players to be protected and didn't get that.
"David has been improving all the time and is developing into a fantastic keeper. It's just a matter of experience in the English game - he's got stronger. His training performances are really good and he's shown that again tonight. As we've been saying for quite a while, he's developing into a first-class goalkeeper.
"Vidic has a badly bruised jaw but I don't know what happened in that situation. He's certainly got a nice bruise on his cheekbone.
"It was like the Alamo at times but we stood up to it and that's the important thing. Never at any time did we show a lack of courage, so they did really well and I'm pleased with them."
The draw means United now lead Manchester City by 13 points, after the latter produced a 1-0 win over Wigan.
Ferguson felt his side played like "champions" to come from behind twice under difficult circumstances. "We had to stand up to a lot but our players kept going," he added. "We were behind twice but we came back and I thought we played like champions.
"We were magnificent in terms of our determination and courage to play. We don't like losing and we showed that again so I was pleased with the result.
"It's a game closer to the title. We have five left -- three at home, two away -- and the players are showing they want to win it. There's no doubt about that. We've got a nice cushion with our lead but we don't want to make any mistakes."
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce praised his side for an "outstanding performance," but felt they deserved a win, saying the Van Persie equalizer was scored from an offside position.
"It was just an outstanding performance from all the players that took part, I can't praise them enough," he told the club's official website. "We've played like this most of the season.
"The outstanding goals that we scored, especially the second goal, should have brought us an outstanding victory against the leaders Manchester United. And sadly, the linesman's decision has denied us a famous victory.
"Van Persie's goal was offside. He was in an offside position when the ball was struck, it hit the post, it came to him and he's put it in the net. It's a famous victory that has slipped away from us. But it remains a fantastic point and a fantastic performance."
