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.

Man City lose £90m

The figure reflects how much the Eastlands club shelled-out on top class players, such as Brazilian wonder-kid Robhinho, but doesn’t take into account the huge outlay on other players like Carlos Tevez, Kolo Toure, Craig Bellamy and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Sheikh Mansour bought the club in September 2008, and immediately went on a spending spree, pipping Chelsea and Manchester United to sign the Brazilian, along with nearly scuppering United’s Dimitar Berbatov deal.

The club’s chief financial and administration officer, Graham Wallace, said: “The financial results reflect a period of rapid change at the club, the result of long-term planning and investment by the board and our owners, to create a sustainable business in the future.”

“We have always said that this transformation will take a number of years and these figures reflect that.”

There were some positive signs for Manchester City in other aspects of the business, away from the costs incurred for transferring players.

Turnover at the club increased by 6% to £87m, along with average attendances which rose slightly, to 42,890 from 42,081 the year before.

A good run in Europe also helped to swell koffers, as ticket revenues were boosted by £1.8m, and TV income was up by 12% to £48.3m, helped by the run to the latter stages of the UEFA cup.