Alexis Sanchez: Manchester United forward’s goalscoring woes ‘like a bottle of ketchup’, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says

Scoring just a single goal may be enough for Alexis Sanchez to breathe new life into his woeful Manchester United career, according to interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Solskjaer, the Norwegian, pulled no punches when he claimed he ‘can’t do anything about Alexis Sanchez’ in the wake of last week’s Champions League defeat by PSG, with the Chile forward anonymous after being brought on as a substitute.

He has been in and out of the starting XI during Solskjaer’s two-month tenure following his recovery from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for six weeks at the back end of last year.

However, Sanchez is in line for an increased role over the next couple of weeks in the absence of Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial, both of whom have been sidelined through injury

And Solskjaer was more hopeful when discussing Sanchez returning to form in the build-up to Monday’s FA Cup fifth round clash against Chelsea, bringing levity to proceedings by comparing the 30-year-old’s situation to trying to get tomato ketchup out of a bottle.

Solskjaer said: “I think he’s a very good player, he’s very talented but of course there are only so many things you can sit down and talk about and tweak.

Chelsea vs Man United in the FA Cup fifth round is LIVE on talkSPORT! Click here to tune in to our full commentary

“If he could just get that goal I’m sure that will release some of his confidence. That’s what it’s about when you go through periods that you don’t perform up to your standard because we know there is a very, very good player there.

“It’s just one of those things, like a bottle of ketchup when it never comes but then when it suddenly comes, loads comes out. When it comes, it comes. I’m sure he’ll be fine.

“He can still play for many, many years. He’s been here for a year, I’ve been here for two months now and he’s been injured for the first part of it.

“It’s unfair to just expect him to be at the top straight away. I’m sure we’ll see the best of him (from now) until the end of the season.”

The loss to PSG in the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie was United’s first with Solskjaer at the helm and left the Red Devils with a mountain to climb at the Parc des Princes.

Solskjaer, though, refused to accept that United’s only remaining hope of silverware this season is the FA Cup.

He said: “I’m not going to say it’s the last chance because we’re going to go down to Paris and give it a go. Of course the chance of going through there is slimmer now than it was before the game.

“There’s quite a few heads there where their pride has been hurt so I’m sure they’ll bounce back on Monday.

“We need every player to perform at the best level because we’re challenging to be top four, we’re challenging against very, very good teams so we need the players to step up now.

“You’d expect that at Manchester United towards the end of the season. You always do well towards the end of the season.”

Lingard and Martial are expected to be sidelined for up to three weeks because of injury but Solskjaer is unfazed ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge, pointing out he rested some key personnel in the previous round at Arsenal.

He added: “We beat Arsenal in the last cup round without Anthony and without (Marcus) Rashford, now it’s without Anthony and Jesse. I’m sure we’ll conjure up something.”