Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson accused referee Graham Barber of being weak after goalkeeper Fabien Barthez sparked a storm of controversy at Elland Road.

Ferguson believes Barber not only played to the crowd in awarding Leeds a penalty, but then failed to apply the letter of the law as a pulsating game exploded in first-half injury-time.

Barthez, though, can think himself lucky he was not sent off as he lit the blue touchpaper to another highly-charged encounter between two of the Premier League's most bitter rivals.

The flamboyant Frenchman clearly kicked Ian Harte after the duo had tangled in the six-yard box where Barthez had dropped an inswinging cross from Robbie Keane.

Barber immediately pointed to the penalty spot, and it seemed as if there would be no doubt Barthez would become the first player to be dismissed by the Tring official in the Premiership this season.

But not for the first time in recent history the United players surrounded a match official to voice their protests, albeit in the absence of injured influential skipper Roy Keane, although there was no manhandling on this occasion.

Jaap Stam had been awarded the captain's armband, with Ferguson choosing to ignore David Beckham despite him having led out England in the last two internationals.

But it was Beckham, a frustrated figure wide on the right throughout the game, who led the chorus of disapproval, and whether Barber was swayed remains debatable as it was only a yellow card which was flashed to Barthez.

With the question raging as to whether Barthez should still have been on the pitch, in the ensuing mayhem Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became one of eight players booked during the match as he continued to argue United's case.

In the end it was Barthez who had the last laugh as Barber's decision was pivotal to the eventual outcome given he then dived to his right to superbly beat away Harte's low, right-foot spot kick.

Steve McClaren tried to have the last word as he vehemently remonstrated with Barber at the half-time whistle, the United number two wagging his finger furiously in front of the face of the official, who needed a security escort off the pitch and down the tunnel.

But it was Ferguson who spoke out against Barber after the game as he said: "I haven't seen the incident, but Steve McClaren saw it and he said there was nothing in it. The boy (Harte) pulled Barthez and Barthez had a little kick at him.

"But I'm not sure the referee saw it because when the ball was cleared away my eye was on him and he was looking towards the ball.

"There was a good shout from the crowd and that was a good enough reason to give the penalty. You need strong referees in this game and unfortunately he is one of the weaker ones.

"I know it was a hard game to handle because there were so many fouls in the match. It was hard to keep the game flowing, and so he ended up just giving a foul to each team to balance things out."

Ferguson then swiftly accused Barber of not keeping faith with the rulebook as he added: "I was worried we would lose Barthez. If he's had a kick and the referee has seen it then it's a sending off, isn't it? I would have thought so.

"But you don't get that consistency in decisions. Some goalkeeper or a defender next week will get sent off for something similar."

Leeds boss David O'Leary was staggered Barthez was allowed to remain on the pitch, a scenario which would have left runaway leaders United playing the whole of the second half with only 10 men.

"The referee has awarded a penalty for kicking out, and if that's the case then I don't know how he (Barthez) is on the field to save it," stated O'Leary.

The pressure Leeds had exerted throughout a first-half they had controlled, was maintained at the start of the second, until United produced a typically incisive move which led to Nigel Martyn gifting the visitors a 64th-minute lead.

Paul Scholes and Teddy Sheringham set up Solskjaer for a right-foot drive which Martyn could only parry into the path of half-time substitute Luke Chadwick to tap home his second goal of the season from six yards.

But Leeds did not let their heads drop and six minutes from time gained their just reward when Mark Viduka headed home his 16th goal of the season after Lee Bowyer had flicked on a right-wing cross from Danny Mills.

Even then there was time for one final contentious twist when Wes Brown turned home a low, injury-time cross from Bowyer which would have been his second own goal in 11 days after netting Valencia's equaliser in the Champions League last week.

But the linesman's flag spared the England international centre-back's blushes as Viduka was adjudged offside, a decision which O'Leary slammed as "shocking."

O'Leary added: "No Manchester United player has appealed for offside and I'm looking at Wes Brown and he is gutted. He thinks he has conceded a goal.

"The players are all walking away and all of a sudden the linesman puts his flag up and he has gifted them an offside. Mark said he was level at least - certainly not offside."

Not surprisingly, Ferguson disagreed with O'Leary's comments at the end of a game in which United are now unbeaten in their last seven meetings with Leeds - five wins and two draws.

"It was offside in the first place anyway, before the cross came in," reflected Ferguson. "But at the end of the day a draw is a fair result, although from a winning position we shouldn't have lost that."

Teams:

Leeds: Martyn, Mills, Harte, Radebe, Ferdinand, Bowyer, Dacourt, Batty, Matteo (Kewell 46), Keane (Smith 46), Viduka.

Subs Not Used: Kelly, Robinson, Bakke.

Booked: Bowyer, Radebe, Mills.

Goals: Viduka 84.

Man Utd: Barthez, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Brown, Stam, Beckham, Scholes, Butt (Chadwick 46), Irwin, Sheringham (Yorke 69), Solskjaer.

Subs Not Used: May, Rachubka, Greening.

Booked: Butt, Barthez, Solskjaer, Phil Neville, Scholes.

Goals: Chadwick 64.

Att: 40,055

Ref: G Barber (Tring).