PAULO BERNARDO was in Paradise as he fired in his first goal at Parkhead yesterday.
The on-loan Benfica midfielder marked his Glasgow derby debut with a memorable 25th-minute strike to open the scoring in the 2-1 triumph in front of a full house in the east end of Glasgow.
Bernardo’s timing was faultless as he drilled a first-time drive past the diving Jack Butland after latching onto a misdirected header from Abdullah Sima following a right-wing corner-kick from Luis Palma.
It was a wonderful effort by the 21-year-old Portuguese ace who had just claimed his first goal for the club with the first in the 3-0 victory over Dundee at Dens Park on Boxing Day.
UNSTOPPABLE…Paulo Bernardo thumps in the opening goal in the derby win – and his first strike at Parkhead.
Naturally, Bernardo was delighted with his thunderous goal and the win that propelled the champions eight points ahead at the Premiership pinnacle.
The gifted playmaker, speaking to Celtic TV, admitted: “For me, it was really good to score the first goal.
“We know that the first goal is always important in a big game like this, so I’m very happy to help the team with that.
“It was much better than I thought. It was my first time playing in this game, it was amazing and we enjoyed it a lot. We got the victory, so that’s what matters.”
Bernardo will now be going for a special hat-trick with a strike in three successive games when the Hoops take on St Mirren in Paisley on Tuesday.
The player is certainly making up for lost time after firing blanks in the first three months of his season-long loan deal.
BIG SHOTS BERNARDO, KYOGO BLAST HOOPS TO GLORY
