Rooney: United win just the start

Wayne Rooney hopes that Manchester United FC's 1-0 UEFA Champions League Group A victory over Real Sociedad de Fúbol will provide a spur to better things after an indifferent start to the season for the English champions.

It was Rooney's dribble and shot against the post led to the only goal – Iňigo Martínez putting the ball into his own net – and he suggested United deserved more goals for an improved performance. As for La Real's Carlos Vela, he said the only positive after a third successive defeat was the visitors' 6,000-strong away following as their steep learning curve continued.

Wayne Rooney, United forward
We got a good start and a good win in the end. We maybe should have scored a few more goals in the end but we're just delighted with the three points. We created some great chances and should have taken a few more but the result tonight after Saturday [a 1-1 home draw with Southampton FC] was the most important thing. We played some great stuff as well and we're really pleased. We’ve been too inconsistent and we have to get that consistency about our game and hopefully tonight's the start.

Phil Jones, United defender
It was the exact start we needed and wanted. We'd talked about a quick start to the game and we got that [thanks to] Wazza [Rooney] with some great skill in the box and it’s gone in off the lad. We just didn’t quite manage to get that second goal which would have killed the game.

It was important to get back to winning ways. We probably could have won by five or six tonight but it was important to get a clean sheet and hopefully we can now build on that and get back to where we need to be in the league. We said at half-time it was vital to get the second goal and it didn't quite come even though we had chances.

Carlos Vela, Real Sociedad forward
It's difficult to find any positives. To concede a goal at the very start, and concede a goal to a team who are better than you both physically and football-wise, it is difficult. At no point did we feel we could draw or win – we have to keep working as they gave us a lesson that we have to improve a lot to reach the level of these big competitions. We improved a bit but at no moment did we have clear chances, or give the impression we were about to equalise. We moved the ball around better but without putting them under real danger.

We have to enjoy this – it was a reward for last season's work – but we’ve got to be competitive too. The best thing about today was the fans, who showed they’re with the team all the way.

Claudio Bravo, Real Sociedad goalkeeper
Their goal from our failure to clear the ball and it ended up with us putting the ball in our own net. Aside from that there's a feeling we could have done more [but] this is new for us and we want to keep improving. We can learn from playing big teams like this – this will help us grow and get better.

We have to thank the fans, they really helped inspire us, so hats off to them. It's great to play at a ground like this and to see 6,000 of your own fans is incredible.