It was hardly surprising when boos greeted the half-time whistle at Old Trafford on Friday night.

Facing a Leicester City side that had been thumped 4-0 by Everton just six days earlier, Manchester United found themselves 1-0 down at the interval. They also failed to register a single shot on target in a dire opening 45-minute showing.

United have served up some drab performances at Old Trafford this season, but their first half showing against the Foxes was possibly the worst of the lot. Every backward pass was met by a groan from their supporters.

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Rasmus Hojlund, who is now 14 games without a goal, was anonymous in the first half, registering a paltry seven touches of the ball. The service into him was non-existent.

Hojlund last scored for United 64 days ago when they were beaten 3-2 by Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on December 7. He brought United level that Saturday teatime, scoring after 18 minutes, to cancel out Nikola Milenkovic's very early opener.

Remarkably, United have only scored one first half goal since - a penalty from Bruno Fernandes in their 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion last month. It means the Reds have now failed to score a first half goal from open play in each of their last 15 matches.

When you consider United scored within the first two minutes in each of Ruben Amorim's first two games in charge back in November, it has been a remarkable turn of events.

United came flying out of the traps against Ipswich Town on Amorim's debut in the dugout at Portman Road, striking within two minutes through Marcus Rashford, before Alejandro Garnacho scored inside the opening minute against Bodo/Glimt four days later.

Since Garnacho fired United into an early lead against the Norwegian outfit on November 28, United have only scored in the first half of three matches. Of Amorim's first 20 games at the helm, United have only scored in the first half on five occasions.

Harry Maguire, who was United's knight in shining armour against Leicester, heading in a stoppage time winner to seal the club's progression to the FA Cup fifth round, admitted after Friday night's game that the reason behind their slow starts is yet to be identified.

"I don't know," Maguire addmitted. "We can't really put our finger on it, otherwise we would do. We know there is talent in the team, but at the moment we are not showing it to the best of our ability, there is no doubt about that.

"Our record at Old Trafford has been really poor and I think we lose that little bit of belief and that little bit of confidence and it shows.

"It comes across that maybe our body language is a little bit down and lethargic, but we need to win games to bring that back, and we will do that."

It goes without saying that no game is decided at half-time, and that it is only the full-time score that counts, but United cannot continue to get away with starting so slowly, particularly at home. United have fallen behind in seven of their first ten Old Trafford outings under Amorim and have kept just one clean sheet.

The failure to get on top in the first half of matches is regularly leaving United facing an uphill struggle in their quest for victories. It is an unsustainable record that needs addressing as quickly as possible.

United are a team going through a transitional period, meaning bumps in the road and lows are inevitable, but their constant failure to make their mark in the first half of matches is a rut they are stuck in. Fifteen consecutive first halves without a goal from open play is simply not good enough.

It is a trend that is showing no signs of being halted, either, and Amorim is so far failing to come up with a plan to fix it. Of course, there is no denying he needed fresh blood adding to the attacking department during the January transfer window, but he has still got to find a solution to this particular problem with what he has available to him.

Amorim's hands are somewhat tied given he is working with a team starved of confidence and belief, plus a natural goalscorer. But he is the man tasked with finding a solution to this problem - and he needs to come up with one quickly.