CARLOS TEVEZ has accused his former Manchester United team-mate Gary Neville of being “disrespectful” for sparking their row in the League Cup semi-final on Tuesday by commending Alex Ferguson for not signing a player whose financial demands were “too big”.

Tevez was so incensed by Neville’s remarks he made a provocative gesture to the former England right back after scoring the first of his two goals in Manchester City’s 2-1 first-leg victory. Neville responded by flashing his middle finger and though the Football Association are unlikely to take action against him they plan to write to United, asking the club to remind their players of their responsibilities before the return leg at Old Trafford next Wednesday.

“I just think Gary was very disrespectful which, to be fair, is out of character, but he didn’t know the whole story of why I left Manchester United and I believe I deserved his respect,” Tevez said last night.

“We achieved a lot together at United, I was the second top scorer there in my first season at the club and I deserve respect from my fellow professionals.”

Neville, writing a column for the Times of Malta, had said of Ferguson that "he knows exactly what he's doing and understands when a player's time is up". He added that he could not "disagree with Ferguson's decision" even though United also lost their most penetrative player, Cristiano Ronaldo, last summer, and that "the manager has almost always been proved correct".

Tevez said he was “hurt” by the comments but said it had inspired him to play well against United, and he defended his goal celebrations. “Football is a form of theatre and as far as I am concerned it was just a form of banter,” he said.

“There was nothing malicious intended whatsoever. I was not trying to incite anyone but I was entitled to say to Neville that he should have been more respectful. For the second goal I ran to the touchline and cupped my ears and looked up to the part of the ground where the United directors were sitting, and also to Ferguson in the dugout, because I wanted them to know this was my response to them saying I was not worth the money.

“People from United have been speaking about me and criticising me but I wanted to do my talking on the pitch because that was the best way of responding to all these people, such as Neville, who were saying United were right to let me go.”

Tevez has now scored 13 goals in 11 games and he added: “I’m disappointed I received so much criticism at the start of the season. What people don’t realise is that I was playing with a very sore knee injury and needing injections every day.”

Police believe they may have saved a player from being seriously injured after darts and golf balls were confiscated from Manchester United supporters before the game. A number of missiles were thrown on to the pitch during the game but officers from Greater Manchester police’s football unit believe the situation could have been worse had security officials not adopted stringent checks at the turnstiles.

Information had reached the police that United supporters planned to smuggle red flares into the ground, in order to interrupt a pre-match routine at Eastlands in which the lights are turned off and a giant image of a blue moon is flashed into the stadium. Two flares were lit but several others were discovered during rigorous body checks that stopped a large number of fans getting into the stadium before kick-off. More seriously, several supporters were caught trying to smuggle darts, golf balls and other weapons into the ground.

Eighteen people were arrested – six home supporters, 11 United fans and one neutral – before, during and after a 2-1 win for City, courtesy of those two goals from Tevez. There were other flashpoints during the match, including the United left back, Patrice Evra, being struck by a cigarette lighter as he went to take a throw-in. The FA’s disciplinary department intends to write to City to see if they are confident of catching whoever was responsible.