Robin van Persie admitted he wasn't thinking clearly amid the emotion of scoring a 94th minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Chelsea when he took his shirt off.
The Manchester United captain was branded "stupid" by his manager Louis van Gaal for his celebration on Sunday, which earned him a booking.
It was Van Persie's third caution of the season and means he is now only two yellow cards away from a suspension. But the former Arsenal captain said he got carried away as explained his actions after his injury-time leveller against the league leaders.
"I know it's one of the rules that you have to keep your shirt on, but sometimes you forget and everything comes together and the whole place explodes," he told reporters.
"It was one of those fantastic moments and the main thing is that we got something out of this game because we deserved it.
"It was a big relief for the fans, for the players and for everyone at Manchester United that we got the goal in the end. The whole stadium exploded and it gave us a big boost."
Van Persie's goal against Chelsea was his third of the season and extended United's unbeaten run to four games, but they are still eighth in the Premier League table and 10 points behind Jose Mourinho's side at the top.