Manchester United players have blamed Chelsea staff for provoking the post-match brawl following the Red Devils' Premier League loss at Stamford Bridge.

At least six United players were involved in the clash with Chelsea stewards and groundsmen after Saturday's 1-2 loss, which left the two teams tied on points at the top of the standings with two games left in the season.

"We're filing a report and it will be sent to the FA (Football Association)," United manager Alex Ferguson said yesterday at a heated news conference. "We're very happy with that. We're delighted with that. We hope the FA investigates it."

Patrice Evra, Gary Neville, Park Ji-sung, Danny Wellbeck, John O'Shea and Paul Scholes, who all did not play in the match, were running on the pitch in a warm-down about 30 minutes after the final whistle when the trouble broke out.

The scuffles came as the Chelsea ground staff were cutting the grass to prepare the turf for the second leg of the Champions League semifinals against Liverpool tomorrow. The United players were reportedly asked not to run across the pitch and to jog in the same direction as the lawnmowers.

According to British news reports, the players refused, words were exchanged and the brawl began.

Allegations that Evra, who is black, was racially abused have been denied.

Carlos Tevez, who was an unused substitute during the match, also became involved and said an insult to Evra sparked the brawl.

"Patrice received a grave insult from a member of Chelsea's staff," Tevez was quoted as saying in yesterday's edition of The Guardian newspaper. "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."