Levi Colwill says scoring his first goal for boyhood club Chelsea is the realisation of a life-long dream.
The 20-year-old defender produced a towering far-post header in the 3-2 win over Brighton at Stamford Bridge, having latched onto Nicolas Jackson’s flick-on.
Colwill has been at Chelsea since he was eight years old and began to celebrate his goal before holding back out of respect for Brighton, where he spent last season on loan.
Asked whether he had dreamed of the moment while in the club's academy, he said: “100 per cent! 100 per cent! This is what every little boy in the academy thinks about - I am so happy to be living my dream.
“This moment means everything to me after growing up through the club and academy. It was a lot of emotions after I headed it in. But I wasn’t sure if the referee would give it, and he gave it. I ran off to celebrate my first Prem goal but then realised it was against my old team, so I needed to show them some respect, which I did.
“Brighton, the fans and the manager did a lot for me, and I wouldn’t be here without them and chose not to over-celebrate; it was the least I could do. I am hoping to get many more for Chelsea. I have so much more I need to prove. Hopefully, I can prove how good I can be.”
Enzo Fernandez put Chelsea ahead with a similar header four minutes earlier and Colwill said the £107m January signing has “got a big career ahead of him at Chelsea”.
But Chelsea faced a major double setback just before half-time as Facundo Bounanotte curled a wonderful 43rd-minute strike before Conor Gallagher got his second yellow card and was sent off.
Mauricio Pochettino challenged his team to perform a man down and Colwill revealed that Gallagher also had his say. “Conor was positive in the dressing room; he didn't sit there at half-time with his head down he wanted to give us motivation as a leader should do. He's taken that on his chin and will return.”
Chelsea defended well after the break and Fernandez extended the lead from the penalty spot after James Milner brought down Mykhailo Mudryk in the box. Brighton substitute Joao Pedro headed in a corner in the 90th minute to set up a nervy finale but Chelsea held on.
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It was the reaction Pochettino required having called his players "soft" after the 4-1 defeat at Newcastle last weekend. “It was a good reaction to last week; we had to come to prove a point,” Colwill said about his manager’s criticism. “When going down to 10 men, we had to show everyone we are a strong enough team to see it through, which we have done.
“Of course, you find different things out about yourself and your teammates. We’ve always known we’ve had it in us. We just had to show it to everyone else today. We are buzzing to get the three points and give that to the fans.”
Chelsea on Wednesday are at Old Trafford to face Manchester United, who remain five points ahead of the Blues despite their own defeat to Newcastle.
Colwill says Chelsea can close the gap with the likes of United by maintaining a similar approach. “We just keep trying to prove what a good team we can be and are. Old Trafford will be just like any other game. We go there to win, play our football and take our chances," he said.
