Chelsea got back to winning ways on Sunday afternoon by defeating Brighton 3-2 in a thrilling game at Stamford Bridge, with Colwill netting his first Blues goal either side of strikes from Enzo Fernandez.

The victory was even more impressive when you consider Mauricio Pochettino’s side played the entirety of the second half with 10 men following Conor Gallagher’s red card, but there was still time for late drama as Joao Pedro pulled a goal back for the visitors before the referee awarded a penalty deep into injury time – with Colwill the man alleged to have handled in the area.

Replays showed that the ball had quite clearly, and quite painfully, struck the defender in the face and to the joy of everyone inside the stadium of a Chelsea persuasion, the penalty decision was overturned by VAR.

Quite the story for Colwill, who spent last season on loan with the Seagulls, and the goalscoring defender admitted after the game that his muted celebrations for his goal were out of respect for our opponents.

‘I’m buzzing to get my first Premier League goal and my first goal for Chelsea, in fact,’ described Levi when speaking post-match.

‘I guess it’s somewhat slightly bittersweet for me in the sense that it’s come against Brighton, a club that means so much to me, but I’m really pleased to help the team get the three points.

‘The goal meant a lot to me but I also wanted to show respect to Brighton. We needed that victory and that’s what matters the most, so I’m really pleased.

‘I’ve got so much respect for Brighton as a club. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for them, so I’ve got a lot of admiration for them and for the manager there.

‘There’s no hiding from that but listen, I play for Chelsea and this club means so much to me as well. I had a job to do and I’m just glad we got the win as a team.’

Colwill put in another imperious display in the Chelsea backline and spoke of his pride at seeing the Blues hold off the late Brighton onslaught, as well as reflecting on that crazy penalty decision before it was correctly overturned.

‘I’m not sure what happened with the penalty, to be honest, as it clearly hit me in the face,’ added the England international. ‘I knew that straightaway and was even showing people the mark on my face!

‘It hit me so hard, I didn’t know where the ball had ended up and some of the boys were telling me that a penalty had been given. Thankfully, VAR overturned it and the right decision was awarded in the end.

‘I’m super proud of the team performance today, especially in the second half playing with 10 men.

‘It shows what we can do as a team, we really stuck together and fought for one another and we’re all delighted with the result. It’s something for us to build on now and hopefully we can take that into Wednesday against [Manchester] United.’