Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Manchester United were piqued by the criticism of their form into beating Everton.
United had lost their previous two matches to Arsenal and Istanbul Basaksehir and it emerged the club had approached Mauricio Pochettino about replacing Solskjaer as manager.
Solskjaer has developed a knack for presiding over pivotal results when under the cosh as United manager, earning a creditable draw with Liverpool last year and guiding his side to wins over Tottenham and Manchester City in the same week, as well as victory at Chelsea two months later. On every occasion, doubts were mounting over his future.
United are still only 13th in the Premier League table with a minus goal difference but the defeat of Everton - fourth at kick-off - reiterated Solskjaer's penchant for pressure performances.
"We want more consistency," Solskjaer stressed. "We want to kick on and go on a run and climb the table and qualify in the Champions League.
"No one likes to be criticised. I don't think my players like to be criticised so of course they’re going to come out and show what they’re about.
"My job is to make sure that guard is up every time and don’t drop that guard, don't go into any game with 'this game is going to be easy'. We can't just outplay teams, we have to outfight and outrun teams as well.
"Today was an exceptional performance for a long time after a difficult week for the boys."
Solskjaer was outraged United's trip to Everton was scheduled for a 12.30pm kick-off on a Saturday after they travelled to Istanbul for a Wednesday night Champions League tie against Basaksehir.
"I pushed my club to really fight the kick-off time on this one to give us at least half a chance," Solskjaer explained. "It was quashed and selected [for 12.30 on the Saturday].
"There are too many serious injuries in the Premier League this season already that might be mental or physical fatigue. Being late in a tackle or you're fatigued and you tire yourself.
"We want this product to be best in world. It is at times, it's so exciting but we don’t want it to harm any players. These are difficult times for everyone and we need to look after everyone in general."
