Chelsea boss Scolari blasts seven-card United after Stamford Bridge stalemate

Luiz Felipe Scolari has told to show more respect for referees after Mike Riley booked seven of their players during a stormy 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Patrice Evra were all booked for United, who will be given a mandatory fine of £25,000 by the FA.

Tempers flared at the final whistle, with Ferdinand complaining to United boss Sir Alex Ferguson about the theatrics of substitute Didier Drogba as they left the pitch and Ferguson himself furious with Riley.

Referee Mike Riley brandished seven yellow cards to United players at Stamford Bridge

United threatened Chelsea’s 84-match unbeaten League run at Stamford Bridge when Ji-sung Park scored in the first half, but substitute Salomon Kalou headed their equaliser.

Chelsea manager Scolarisaid: ‘I’m not surprised there were so many bookings.

'The referee is there for that reason. If players don’t respect him then he will show yellow card or red cards.

'It is the same for everyone — Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester United.’

Despite his anger with Riley, Ferguson was wise enough to calm down Ferdinand, who was also unhappy with Riley’s performance, as the England centre back’s row with Drogba threatened to escalate.

The United manager said: ‘The game is being screened worldwide, everyone was watching and then that (the bookings) go on.

'It was a competitive game and I did not think there was one bad tackle in it.’

Riley blew for the final whistle after Drogba and Ferdinand tangled on the edge of the area and Scolari admitted he was bemused by the referee’s decision.

The home manager said: ‘We have to accept the decision of the referee, but it was unusual for him to finish it at that time.

'The ball was in position for a free-kick.’

Chelsea’s preparations suffered a setback before the game when Deco pulled up with a hip injury during the warm-up and he was replaced in the side by Michael Ballack.

They also lost Ricardo Carvalho after 13 minutes when he injured a knee and had to be replaced by Brazilian defender Alex.

United took the lead when Park capitalised on Petr Cech’s failure to catch Dimitar Berbatov’s effort cleanly and the Barclays Premier League champions appeared to be in control of the game.

They even coped with the loss of Edwin van der Sar, who also injured a knee in a collision with Florent Malouda, and he was replaced by Tomasz Kuszczak after 32 minutes.

Ferguson added: ‘Edwin suffered a blow to his knee, it is a bit sore but he should be OK for next week.

‘All things being equal I felt we deserved a point. They had a lot of free-kicks around the box but at the end we worked hard.

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari insists he was not surprised seven Unite players were booked

‘We played with great tempo in the first 20 minutes.

'The real shame was that we didn’t go for the jugular when we were 1-0 up.

‘We had control of the match at that point, but we eased up and allowed them to get to half time.

'Didier Drogba came on and gave us a different kind of threat.

‘He is big, aggressive and made it more difficult for us physically.

'Our defence did really well, apart from a couple of chances Chelsea had in each half.

‘We had a good build-up for our goal. Park, Berbatov, Owen Hargreaves, Ronaldo and Gary Neville are still adjusting to the pace of the game after injury and maybe we felt that.’

Chelsea responded in the second half when Kalou, on as a substitute for Ballack, connected with John Mikel Obi’s free-kick to steer the ball beyond United’s replacement keeper.

Scolari added: ‘We wanted to play our football, but it took time for us to adjust after Deco’s injury.

'United played well in the first 20 minutes and that was to be expected after the upset to our preparations.

‘To be 1-0 down was not unexpected. I was pleased with the way we played in the second half, with our response, with our fight and with our character.’

Scolari also confirmed the arrival of Brazil midfielder Mineiro on a free transfer and he is expected to make his debut for the reserves this week.

The holding midfielder has been brought in as a replacement for Michael Essien after he suffered a cruciate ligament injury while playing for Ghana.

Police made one arrest after thematch when a window on the Manchester United team coach was cracked by a missile.