FILIPE JOTA has revealed he is on a mission to share the joy after returning to Paradise.
The Portuguese maverick continued his love affair with the Celtic support as he whipped in his first goal at Parkhead since his remarakble return to the champions last month.
Jota is attempting to make up for lost time after spending 18 months in the Middle East and France before making his way ‘home’ to the east end of Glasgow.
With a flair for making headline news, the flamboyant forward drilled in the Hoops’ third goal in the 3-1 victory over Motherwell at Fir Park inside half-an-hour of his first comeback game a fortnight ago.
RETURN OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN…Filipe Jota accepts the acclaim from the Celtic fans.
And the 25-year-old easy-on-the-eye flanker took centre stage again when he zipped in Celtic’s second goal against the Tannadice outfit as he drifted in from the left wing with menacing intentions before lashing a low right-foot drive away from the sprawling Jack Walton at his left-hand post.
Callum McGregor had got the ball rolling with his eighth strike of the campaign and Adam Idah put added sparkle on the scoreline with a late effort for a thunderous third.
With the smile to light up a grey early winter’s evening in the city, Jota reflected afterwards: “Returning is definitely something special.
“Celtic fans always make me feel so happy. They’ve given me something that nobody has ever given to me.
“In the end, I just want to give something back to the fans and give them happiness and joy.
“I want to give the best of myself on the pitch and, as a group, we want to deliver and win titles, as well.”
HAIL, HAIL…Filipe Jota salutes the Celtic followers after his comeback Parkhead goal.
Jota praised onfield leader McGregor for his crisply-executed breakthrough strike to pilot the pacesetters to a 16-point advantage at the Premiership pinnacle on their way to their thirteenth crown in 14 years.
The former Benfica starlet, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “It was a crazy goal, a really good one! He showed his class and the first goal is always important.
“It’s the one that gives us a release and the game becomes more open which allows us to do our stuff. So, it was good to have the goal from him.
“We had our strategy and then it was about putting that together on the pitch.
“We have our intensity, we’re dynamic and we have the flow. In the end, we delivered and I’m very pleased with that.”
TURF LUCK…Filipe Jota is flat out as the Celtic fans celebrate.
The demands on Brendan Rodgers’ men continue as they travel to Germany to take on Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League play-off in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.
The Hoops are trailing 2-1 after the midweek loss, but a defiant Jota insisted the tie was not over and added: “We’ll go there to fight. We know it will be a very difficult challenge.
“Bayern Munich are one of the best teams in the world, but I think everyone could see in the last game that we can do very interesting stuff.
“We’ll go over there with the same mentality, to do good things, to look for the result and, hopefully, to get the win.”
