David Moyes claimed Manchester United are "having to play" the referees as well as the opposition following his side's 2-1 Capital One Cup semi-final first-leg defeat at Sunderland.
Moyes believes several decisions wrongly went against his side, most notably when Adam Johnson was awarded a penalty just after the hour mark after going down under pressure from midfielder Tom Cleverley, with Black Cats striker Fabio Borini making no mistake from the spot.
Referee Andre Marriner's decision to award the spot-kick drew the ire of Moyes, whose side slipped to their third successive defeat for the first time since 2001.
A clearly upset Moyes told Sky Sports News: "We're having to play them as well as the opposition at the moment. It's really terrible, it really is.
"We're actually beginning to laugh at them, that's the thing."
