Christopher Samba has said that Manchester United's opening goal "killed" Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.

The West London club suffered a 2-0 defeat to the leaders this afternoon and are now seven points from safety.

It was Brazilian full-back Rafael da Silva who broke the deadlock in the 25th minute with a stunning strike, and Samba believes that it dampened his team's spirit following a bright start.

"We started not so bad," Samba told BBC Sport. "We used our strength and Bobby Zamora and put the ball down the wings.

"But when you concede the first goal like this it's a killer for the team. We kept going but we need to create more chances than we did today.

"When a goal goes in like Rafael's you think everything is going against you. The ball came so quick and I thought I could have headed it away, but today's football is always moving and it's difficult to appreciate the flight of it, but it was a good strike."

QPR make the trip to face fellow strugglers Southampton next weekend.