Farke admitted he had never experienced such an incident in his 30 years in football, with such a defining mistake coming with effectively the last touch of the match.

The Leeds boss suggested captain Pascal Struijk had seen the ball bounce unkindly in front of his goalkeeper, causing Meslier to let it spin past him.

But Farke could not definitively say if there was a rogue divot on the pitch which had cost his injury-hit side two crucial points at the Stadium of Light after an impressive display.

“After such a situation, you don’t need to speak about it – no-one wants to hear any words,” he added.

“Pascal came over and said he had never seen anything like this. He said it bounced and jumped in the other direction because there was a mark on the pitch.

“I can’t tell you if that was the case because I wasn’t on the pitch, but Pascal was probably in the best position to see. If it was this, it was unbelievably unlucky.

“To lose those points in this way is heartbreaking, is horrendous, is so sad and disappointing for our lads.”