Wayne Rooney calls on Manchester United to break cycle and score early

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney (GETTY IMAGES)

Wayne Rooney has said that Manchester United need to establish a routine of scoring early goals, after falling behind for a 12th time in 20 games on Saturday before defeating QPR.

"I don't know why it is but it's happening too many times," Rooney said. "We need to just go out now and try to get the early goal. As soon as we get a goal, the team settles down and the game settles.

"We tend to take control of the game. But more often than not we've conceded first and made it hard for ourselves to try to get back in the game then go on and win it."

Darren Fletcher also said United were "very frustrated" by the trend. "It shouldn't take going a goal behind for us to start playing. The only positive thing we can take from it is that every time we do it we seem to respond. But we can't keep making a habit of it."

Fletcher said United's play could have been quicker with players taking "a few more risks with our passes" in the first half. "There's a risk that you'll give it away but you have to do that if you want to break through."