Alexis Sanchez misery continues as Man Utd flop misses penalty for Chile

Alexis Sanchez's misery has continued, with the Manchester United flop missing a penalty during Chile's clash with Costa Rica.

Chile fell to a 3-2 defeat in the friendly having gone 3-0 down inside 64 minutes.

But after Sebastian Vegas pulled one back for the Copa America holders, they were awarded a penalty in the 82nd minute, only for Sanchez to see his effort saved by Esteban Alvarado.

He did manage to score before the final whistle, setting up a tense finale, but Costa Rica held on to record their first victory in nine matches.

His miss is emblematic of a difficult season for Sanchez, who has been in the headlines for a number of reasons over recent weeks.

The ex-Arsenal star has scored just once this season, in nine games, and last played 90 minutes in the club's opening Premier League match of the season, against Leicester City.

Reports have suggested that he is unhappy at Old Trafford due to Jose Mourinho's playing style and a lack of friends within the club, but it, of course, remains to be seen if the club will be able to cash in.

Indeed, Arsene Wenger, his old manager, believes that his former charge has merely "lost confidence".

“I believe he has lost confidence," he said.

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“The strength of Alexis Sanchez is to take initiative to dribble and to take people on. 

“Those are the players who are most vulnerable when they lose confidence their game is based on that and having that feeling to take initiative, he has lost that slowly. 

“Since the start of the season he had a high level of physical energy but he has lost that as well. 

“Certainly he is refreshed now because Mourinho left him out for a while.”

Sanchez is likely to be in action again on Tuesday when Chile face Honduras in another friendly before returning to England ahead of United's next Premier League match with Crystal Palace on November 24.