Carlos Tevez came back to haunt ex-colleagues, Sir Alex Ferguson and Gary Neville, as he scored twice in City’s 2-1 Carling Cup semi-final victory last night.

Utd sub Neville could be in trouble after Tevez scored the winner

The ex-United icon, who earlier had been labelled as being “over-priced” by United club captain Neville, made the journeyman defender eat his words as he scored from the spot before heading home the winner.

United took the lead with a Ryan Giggs strike, before Craig Bellamy was felled in the box. Argentinian Tevez hammered the ball down the centre of the goal to pull level.

Tevez again headed home to seal the victory for the Eastlands club, before running to the dugout area cupping his ear – reminiscent of his celebration against City in his last derby as a red.

Former team mate, Gary Neville, was warming-up at the side of the pitch when Tevez scored and the FA will be keen to see video footage that showed the substitute gesturing with his middle finger.

United were the better side by far for most of the game, and City had to hold out for the last 25 minutes to seal the win and a potential Wembley Cup Final.

Trying to play down the incident after the game, United manager said: “It is just the way these things happen. Football can be like that. It can bite you. We have had a few players leave the club and score against us. There is no issue. I am happy with the players we have got.”

The embarrassing defeat comes alongside further financial heartache for the Salford Reds, as latest accounts reveal swollen debts of £716.5million.

The company “Red Football Joint Venture Ltd”, which is owned by the American Glazer family, filed accounts for the year ending June 30 2009 which increased by £17m from £699m.

Old Trafford is the venue for the return leg of the Carling Cup Semi-final, next Wednesday in what will no doubt be a nail-biting encounter for both sets of supporters.