MOTHERWELL — Jota made his long-awaited return after almost 18 months on the sidelines as Celtic returned to the Scottish Premiership summit with a deserved 2-0 victory over struggling Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday. The win halted a run of three straight defeats before the international break and lifted the gloom around the club, with the Portuguese winger leading the post-match celebrations.
Camilo Duran fired the visitors in front early on before midfielder Benjamin Nygren made sure of victory in the second half, while Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen made 12 saves as Celtic missed a host of chances. Jota, 27, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury at Tannadice in April 2025, was introduced as a 74th-minute substitute and almost provided an assist with his first touches in a lively cameo. "I was waiting on this for a long time," he told Sky Sports. "Just happy to be back. I've been working hard, the guys have been helping me as well. It was just the normal nerves, but after I stepped on the pitch everything goes well." Asked about the mental toll, he added: "Imagine if someone takes away your child and I've got my child back today - that's how I've been feeling the last year. I found my child again today and I just want to keep it as long as I can."
The party atmosphere at full-time was in stark contrast to recent weeks, when Celtic lost twice to rivals Rangers during a three-match losing run and largest shareholder Dermot Desmond was the target of a protest at the Alfred Dunhill Links in St Andrews. Manager Martin O'Neill had questioned whether he had the energy to continue after the defeat by Rangers at Parkhead last month before committing to stay. "Of course, there was a lot of noise and a lot of it we brought on ourselves as well too. So, nice to win," O'Neill said. "We have to take the criticism at the time. We lost three matches in a week - two to our big rivals. But we fought back today and let's see what Thursday brings." Former Scotland defender Willie Miller said: "I could only imagine the pressure on Martin O'Neill - I know what it's like in Glasgow if you are beaten by Rangers twice. But it seems like he's got his mojo back and is back to his old form and that's what results do."
O'Neill was not concerned by his side's profligacy despite the string of saves from Paulsen. "We had a lot of chances and we could have [scored more]," he said. "The first goal's really important, a great goal by Camilo and it settled us down which was good. It's psychologically a big boost to play as well as we did and go back to the top of the table." Celtic now face a sterner test on Thursday when Portuguese giants Benfica visit in the Europa League, before hosting Hearts — who Benfica beat 7-2 on aggregate in European qualifiers earlier this term — and then facing Celta Vigo in another Europa League fixture.