Tevez: Chelsea ground staff started brawl

(CNN) -- Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez has accused Chelsea staff of provoking Saturday's brawl at Stamford Bridge by abusing defender Patrice Evra.

Evra and United team-mates Paul Scholes, John O'Shea, Gerard Pique and Gary Neville were taking part in a warm-down on the pitch following Chelsea's 2-1 victory when they were asked to move by ground staff.

Argentina international Tevez, who had come on as a substitute during the match between the two Premier League title contenders, also became embroiled as a scuffle broke out.

"Patrice received a grave insult from a member of Chelsea's staff," said Tevez.

"He demanded an explanation and, from that moment, these men just wanted to attack Patrice. Obviously it's normal that we tried to defend our teammate but within a few seconds all of the United players were surrounded by stewards."

Chelsea and the English Football Association have said they will review security television footage of the incident before taking any action.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said on Monday that the club would file a report to the FA in the hope the incident would be investigated.

"I think that the security cameras will show the provocation we received," Tevez added. "I have never seen anything like this in my career... if the FA opens an investigation, we will cooperate and happily give our version of what happened.

"We noticed a hostile atmosphere during the match. That is normal but never did I believe these incidents would happen afterwards without any spectators in the ground."

Young defender Gerard Pique, who was not in the match-day squad, backed up his teammate's version of the events.

"Basically, this came about because of the provocation of somebody who works for Chelsea," Pique said.

"Patrice wanted an explanation but these men were very aggressive. All we were doing was finishing our workout after the game. Even now, I just do not understand the reaction of these people. I have seen the photos and, if the images are stored in the CCTV cameras then it will be impossible for them to say that the players were not provoked."

Chelsea have not commented on the matter, but one of the men allegedly involved in the fracas, groundsman Sam Bethell, played down the incident.

"It was handbags really," he told The Sun newspaper. "It was not as bad as it appeared. I've been told not to say anything about what actually happened."

Match referee, Alan Wiley has said he only became aware of the trouble when he watched highlights of the game later that evening.

"With me being in the changing room, I didn't know anything about what might have happened after the match until I saw 'Match of the Day'.

"The security people said they had nothing to report to me. The players from both teams worked really well with me," he told the Daily Mail.

United defender Rio Ferdinand was involved in a separate post-match incident, later apologizing to a female steward after catching her while kicking out at a wall in frustration.

Meanwhile, United may be missing England striker Wayne Rooney and Serbia defender Nemanja Vidic for Tuesday's second leg of the Champions League semifinal at home to Barcelona.

Both sat out Monday's training session after suffering injuries during the defeat at Chelsea.

Vidic, who missed the 0-0 first-leg draw at the Nou Camp because of a stomach problem, lasted just eight minutes on Saturday before being stretchered off after being accidentally kneed in the face by Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.

Rooney injured his hip before scoring the equalizer -- his 18th goal this season -- and was replaced in the 63rd minute by Cristiano Ronaldo. E-mail to a friend

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