English FA Premiership: Jamie Carragher has accused his England team-mate Gary Neville of "overstepping the mark" when the Manchester United captain celebrated the winner provocatively in front of Liverpool supporters at Old Trafford on Sunday, actions which have led to an official complaint from Greater Manchester Police.
The police have sent a letter condemning Neville's conduct as inflammatory and irresponsible to the English Football Association, which will decide in the next 24 hours if a disciplinary charge of improper conduct is merited.
Carragher claims the United captain went too far by running 60 yards towards the away fans to celebrate Rio Ferdinand's late goal.
"Scoring a last-minute winner against Liverpool, who are their big rivals, they are all buzzing and we would have probably been the same," Carragher said.
"Gary Neville is to Manchester United what I am to Liverpool. We're both local lads who love our clubs, but sometimes you can overstep the mark and he has probably overstepped it a touch.
"It does wind people up. Arjen Robben (of Chelsea) got sent off for celebrating with his own fans last week and (what Neville did) was probably worse than that.
"I think there is a line and Neville crossed it. I've heard people say it's justified because he gets a lot of stick from the Liverpool fans, but the truth is he gets the stick because he's been doing that for years. That's why it all started.
"I feel the same way about Liverpool as Neville does about United, but I don't act like that when we score against them. If I did I'd expect United fans to give me the same amount of abuse."
Should he be found guilty, Neville will probably be fined and warned as to his future behaviour. There is a precedent for the FA in that the Fulham players Zat Knight and Collins John were fined £5,000 and £3,000 respectively under the rule E3 for "excessive goal celebrations" in front of Birmingham supporters last January.
Yet the reaction from the police will be of greater concern. The officer in charge at Old Trafford, chief superintendent Andy Holt, has written to Manchester United's secretary, Ken Merrett, to express his concern that Neville's conduct may have contributed to the crowd problems after the match.
Ten people were arrested, with two due in court today for public order offences.
Liverpool fans also tore down a wire fence between the coaches and the executive car park and damaged several cars, including a Mercedes believed to be owned by the former United defender Denis Irwin.
Video footage of Neville's antics is being examined at Soho Square along with Holt's complaints, although referee Mike Riley's match report is not thought to refer to the incident.
United will not take disciplinary action, believing the matter has been blown up out of proportion, and Liverpool have not made any complaint.
However, the tone of Holt's letter is so strong that the FA might feel duty-bound to act. Holt is understood to have pointed out that the players had been warned at the start of the season, going on to state that Neville had run from one end of the pitch to the other.
He is not in the least contrite, arguing that he was responding to a number of derogatory chants from the away end. The United captain, who has never hidden his dislike for Liverpool or their fans, was repeatedly targeted and the game was played in a notably hostile atmosphere.
Liverpool fans had incensed the home crowd by singing "Are you watching Georgie Best?" in response to taunts about Michael Shields, the Liverpudlian serving 15 years in a Bulgarian prison after being convicted of attempted murder.
Carragher also claimed that United would gladly swap places, even though Liverpool trail by four points, as they have games in hand and are in the knock-out stages of the Champions League.
"We won't dwell on this loss and they would rather be in our position," he said. "They would rather have the problem of coping with the Champions League and chasing second place. We have two games in hand and I would expect to get a minimum of four points from those matches.
