Jose Mourinho was ‘unfair’ in his criticism of Chelsea and their fans following Sunday’s defeat to Liverpool, according to Danny Murphy.

The Reds continued their 100 per cent start to the Premier League season with a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge, but it was their toughest test of the campaign so far with the Blues pushing hard for a point in the second half.

Chelsea fans were so impressed with their side’s performance that they clapped them off the pitch at full time, despite the result – which earned praise from Frank Lampard.

AFP or licensors 2 Frank Lampard was impressed with Chelsea’s performance even if the result wasn’t there to go with it

On the supporters’ reaction, the boss told Chelsea TV: “Firstly the positives, the performance was really good. The second half was great. The crowd don’t applaud a team off unless they deserve it. Fans react to passion, energy and desire.”

Mourinho said Liverpool ‘got lucky’ to win the match, but he did not appear so pleased with the Chelsea fans’ reaction and sent them a warning during his appearance as a pundit for Sky Sports.

“I hope they don’t get used to it, that’s a very important thing,” he said. “When you start accepting defeats just because your team played well or the players gave their best and gave a performance for people to be proud of in terms of attitude and commitment – I think when you get used to it is when big clubs stop being big clubs.

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“I hope they don’t get used to it. But I think it shows the people are ready for what the season is going to be for them, because clearly today, despite part of the performance and the result [being positive], the reality is in the numbers. Liverpool are ten points above Chelsea.”

Murphy, however, disagrees with the Portuguese coach and told talkSPORT: ‘What’s wrong with applauding that?’

Speaking to Jim White on Monday, the former Liverpool midfielder said: “I think [Mourinho] was unfair on Chelsea yesterday… in fact I disagree with him wholeheartedly.

“I think it’s really refreshing for a group of supporters to be appreciative of a super performance, irrelevant of the result.

“Small details change results in football; VAR ruling out their goal, [Mason] Mount’s chance late on, [Tammy] Abraham had a one-on-one. They had chances against the best defence in the Premier League.

Getty Images - Getty 2 N’Golo Kante scored in the second half to give Chelsea hope of a comeback. While it didn’t come, fans still praised their team for their performance

“They went toe-to-toe with Liverpool; they played with belief, had a good mentality, a nice balance, a good mixture of youth and energy and they controlled the game for long periods.

“I think [Mourinho’s criticism] is unfair, especially when he knows the manager. Jose knows Frank better than anyone and you’re talking about a winner.

“Frank has always been a winner, that guy never gave up until the last minute. In the big games he turned up and he was as bad a loser you could play against, Frank.

“Jose knows his mentality, so it was a little bit of a dig for me.

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“There’s nothing wrong with a group of supporters appreciating a team in a transitional period playing the right way and giving their all, because they did give their all, it was a heroic effort in the second half to try and get back into the game.

“Young players giving their all, playing with quality, everybody at it and everybody playing together – what’s wrong with applauding that?

“You don’t want to see your team lose every week, of course you don’t, but if you perform with energy, with heart and with quality you’re going to win some games.

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“And Chelsea fans understand the context of the club at the moment, they’ve had a transfer ban, they’ve had to get rid of a couple of their best players and they’ve had a couple of big injuries.

“There’s no way Frank hasn’t got a winning mentality and there’s no way his team played yesterday like people who aren’t winners, they played with a confidence and quality that winners have.”