Bournemouth skipper Adam Smith has launched a scathing attack on referee Simon Hooper after Monday's thrilling 4-4 stalemate with Manchester United, insisting his team were hard done by. The defender was left seething after the Red Devils were given a free-kick, which led to Bruno Fernandes' spectacular leveller. The Portuguese midfielder restored parity at 3-3 with a perfectly-placed strike from distance.

Yet the Cherries were incensed, believing the set-piece should never have been given. Smith was penalised for a supposed handball as Fernandes attempted to dribble past him. In his post-match comments, Smith disclosed that even United's players acknowledged it wasn't a handball, meaning the free-kick was wrongly awarded. "Even the United players said it wasn't handball!" Smith told the Daily Mail.

"As a defender I just do not know what to do any more. It's one yard (away). It's not even one yard, it's right next to me! It's hit this (the top of his sleeve). I thought this wasn't handball any more? The ref didn't even want to speak to me. Then he booked me after the goal because I went up to him. It's really frustrating."

Following his criticism of Hooper and the contentious decision, Smith then issued a stark message to United, suggesting that whilst Amorim's side are showing encouraging signs, they remain vulnerable at the back. "The move (switching from a back three to back four) is really tough to defend," he explained. "Mason Mount comes in, drops down deep, [Diogo] Dalot goes really high. Luke Shaw sometimes comes really high and wide.[Matheus] Cunha drops down. On the other hand on the counter you can really, really punish them. So maybe that's why it was such a high-scoring game."

United were also not happy with the officials after believing Antoine Semenyo deserved a straight red for what appeared to be grabbing Diogo Dalot by the throat during the opening period. The Bournemouth player reacted after Dalot collided with him whilst challenging for an aerial ball.

"It looked like he's [Semenyo] giving him [Dalot] a clip in the face, but maybe it's lower. It's certainly a massive risk," Gary Neville remarked during his Sky Sports commentary. "I can see why Semenyo's snapped. Dalot bumped him while he's in the air - it's a bit naughty. He's [Semenyo] gone for his [Dalot] neck but he just pulled back. Two yellow cards is the right decision."

Having taken a 4-3 lead courtesy of Cunha's strike, the Cherries fought back to equalise in the dying moments, preventing United from securing consecutive victories. The Red Devils currently occupy sixth place in the Premier League standings with 26 points from 16 fixtures.