Jota insisted his blinding strike to sink Aberdeen was one of the best of his career. But hardline boss Ange Postecoglou warned the Portuguese pin-up against being wasteful after admitting Celtic’s hero was a main culprit of overall slackness during a mid-match lull.
Jota ’s stunning second-half effort added to Stephen Welsh ’s early header to give the champions a 2-0 win to start their title defence. It was a breathtaking effort from the £6million man who, when asked if he’d scored one better, said: “This one was probably one of the best, yeah.
“It was definitely a good moment for me and in my career. I just got the opportunity to shoot and it went in. I get on the pitch and sometimes I just go blind! Sometimes it’s difficult to listen to what is happening in the stands because we are so focused on doing the right thing that we just go blind. It’s a flow moment. I was very happy.”
Postecoglou, though, made it clear that Jota had not always been glorious throughout and pinpointed a sloppy spell prior to the interval which he had along with several colleagues. The boss said: “There is no doubt the boy has talent and he is determined to be the best footballer he can be.
“But, he was one of the main culprits in the last 15 minutes of the first half. He was wasteful with the ball and he gave away possession when he didn’t have to.
“These are the kind of things we have to avoid. We have to keep these guys on track and not let them get away from the things we want them to do.
“The good thing is he addressed it at half-time and in the second half, not just his goal, but his general play was really good. He was dangerous, threatening and doing the team stuff as well. I didn’t shout. At the same time, you need to address the issues at hand.
“You can’t just dismiss the last 15 minutes of the first half. There are lessons in there for everyone.”
Jota admitted himself that not everything was perfect with the performance, but it was a special strike to seal the deal. He said: “We started well, intense and pressing good. Then we had a sloppy moment, but we got back on it and I think this is the way football works.
“We can never be 100 percent every game. We want to be, but there will be moments when we won’t be as good. With our principles or our game, the high tempo, we just have to get better and I think we are going to a good place.
“We aim to be always on it, trying to score, playing positive football. Sometimes we cannot score a lot of goals, but you have to keep on trying, be in the right spots and finish with quality.”
Jota savoured the scoring moment with his adoring Celtic fanbase and smiled: “I think it was everything, not just that moment. Just being part of this football club and the philosophy that runs now throughout the club,
"I’m just grateful for everything. It’s good to be back, it’s good to do the things I love the most, which is to play football.
“The most important thing for me was that we started on the right foot this season in the Scottish league, so now we have to keep working and be better in every game. We are not in last season, everything starts from zero now. Everyone has the same points, so we are not focusing on last season. We want to send a message to the league that we want to be strong in every game and this team is hungry for more and more.”
Celtic are at the top of the table after week one. Having lost three of their opening six Premiership matches last term, it’s a positive opening. Jota said: “Of course, every Celtic team wants to be on top. I wasn’t here in the beginning last year, but we were behind.
“Every season is different, but the team who is going to win is the most consistent team and the one that develops better and keeps at a good level. We just think game after game, we don’t think to January or May or whatever. It’s just game after game and training after training.”
