Carlo Ancelotti believes Newcastle United were 'more motivated' than his Everton side and the Toffees' boss was 'unhappy' after the hosts gave the Magpies 'a lot of presents'.
Newcastle ended their 11-game winless run with an impressive 2-0 victory at Goodison Park thanks to two second-half goals from Callum Wilson.
The visitors more than deserved their victory - Everton captain Seamus Coleman admitted Newcastle 'wanted it more' and the Toffees 'weren't up for the fight as much' - as they moved eight points clear of the relegation zone.
After the game, Ancelotti acknowledged that Newcastle had played 'really well' and Steve Bruce's 'good friend' thought the Toffees lost the game because the black-and-whites had 'more fighting spirit'.
"I am unhappy, of course," Ancelotti told BT Sport. "The performance was not good. The attitude was not good. The problem was there. We found an opponent who was more motivated than us with more spirit, more fighters. That was the reason.
"We gave them a lot of presents, a lot of corners, a lot of throw-ins. It was a present. We were not under pressure defensively. The game was in the balance but they won the second balls. We conceded a lot of crosses, throw-ins and set-pieces.
"There was not the usual spirit that we had in the last few games. I think that the games that we won - we had a good run until now - were because we had spirit. Not because we had better quality.
"Of course, we have quality but if you don't support the quality that we have with the spirit, you lose the game."
Newcastle ended up winning 12 corner kicks and 20 throw-ins at Goodison Park, and Wilson broke the deadlock from Jonjo Shelvey's corner in the 73rd-minute after the striker, somehow, steered his header into the bottom corner from 10 yards out.
