Manchester United ‘flier’ Jesse Lingard is mocked on social media after 39-year-old referee Anthony Taylor outpaces the Manchester United star at Chelsea

JESSE LINGARD'S season has hit a new slow.

Twitter exploded with taunts after the England winger, 24, was outpaced by 39-year-old referee Anthony Taylor in Manchester United's 1-0 loss at Chelsea.

Lingard should have been the pace in the pack when United boss Jose Mourinho brought him on to try to rescue the game with 12 minutes left.

But instead he looked like the joker as Taylor surged past him in the middle of the pitch when the pair rushed to keep up with a Chelsea counter-attack.

The clip - which has since been posted remorselessly on social media - is a perfect endorsement for the fitness of today's Premier League refs.

But it is surely a huge embarrassment for Lingard after recent murmurings over his form from United fans.

Mourinho demands graft as well as craft from his players.

And he might want an explanation of why a seemingly-fresh Lingard failed to hit top gear when United hoped to be in the driving seat for the closing stages of a crucial match.

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Twitter users responded by dashing to their phones and computers much faster than Lingard sprinted back into his own half.

One Tweeter  joked that Taylor was a match for Arsenal's speedy right-back Hector Bellerin.

But most messages mocked the labouring Lingard.

One fans said Taylor's sprint victory had him "in stitches".

And others were quick to point out that Lingard had only just come on, whereas Taylor had already been running around for 78 minutes.

United themselves are also off the pace now following their defeat - still in second place but eight points behind unbeaten neighbours City.

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