Jose Mourinho could barely stifle his anger after Manchester United staggered into the EFL Cup final with a 2-1 semi-final second-leg defeat at Hull.
United led 2-0 from the first leg at Old Trafford 16 days ago but although Paul Pogba cancelled out Tom Huddlestone's first-half penalty, Oumar Niasse's first goal for Hull halted the visitors' 17-game unbeaten run.
It was unclear what Mourinho was more annoyed with - United's inept display or referee Jon Moss' decision to award Hull a controversial 35th-minute penalty that handed them a way back into the tie.
"To speak about the performance, I have to speak about things I don't want to speak about because the game was totally under control - the game was dead," said Mourinho, who moments earlier had cut short his post-match TV interview after barely 30 seconds.
Mourinho was clearly at pains to avoid speaking his mind about the penalty, awarded when Hull defender Harry Maguire went to ground under the attention of Marcos Rojo.
"The game was what we wanted the game to be and something happened (Huddlestone's penalty) to open the game - and then the game was open," he said.
"But we had more power and were the best team. We could have scored lots of goals in the first match."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was denied by Hull goalkeeper David Marshall's superb one-handed save at the end of the first half and Rojo's second-half header hit the crossbar.
But relegation-threatened Hull, who out-fought their more illustrious opponents, had their fair share of limited chances as Niasse also hit the crossbar with a second-half header before crashing home an 85th-minute winner from David Meyler's cross.
"Like I said, the game was under control and we deserved to be in the final, so I congratulated my players," Mourinho added.
"I don't want to analyse the performance too much.
"I don't want to speak about the performance or the penalty."
Hull head coach Marco Silva was delighted his side maintained their progression since he replaced Mike Phelan earlier this month.
Silva was without club record summer signing Ryan Mason, recovering in hospital after fracturing his skull, while star player Robert Snodgrass will reportedly hold talks on Friday with West Ham.
"This will give confidence to my players," Silva said. "The last three games at home, we have won, and it's important to the players and the fans."
When told Mourinho's views on the penalty, Silva laughed and said: "I understand what Mourinho tried to say.
"It's not the most important thing. The referee gave us the penalty. Maybe he saw something to give us the penalty."
Hull have accepted bids of around £10million from West Ham and Burnley for Snodgrass, while Middlesbrough have also made an offer for the Scotland international.
Silva added: "I know the (West Ham) deal is close. It's possible in the next few hours.
"The player hasn't trained with the team and is not available after the club did this deal with West Ham, and we need to find solutions to strengthen our team."
Source: PA
