Tevez blames Blues for brawl
28 Apr 2008 - 08:08:31
Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez has blamed Chelsea groundstaff for starting Saturday's post-match brawl on the Stamford Bridge pitch.
The Argentina international insists they abused Patrice Evra as United's substitutes warmed down on the pitch after the Blues' 2-1 win.
A fight broke out, but Tevez says the United players were the innocent parties in the incident.
He told The Guardian: "Patrice received a grave insult from a member of Chelsea's staff.
"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 team-mate but within a few seconds all of the United players were surrounded by stewards.
"I think that the security cameras will show the provocation we received. 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."