In every Celtic season, there are always iconic moments that fans remember. In this century, Henrik Larsson’s famous tongue celebration is one that we will always look back on fondly. For Shunsuke Nakamura, it’s the Champions League free-kick against Manchester United.
And you simply cannot forget the legendary Billy McNeill holding aloft the European Cup.
But this season, there was one special celebration that followed a special goal. Jota against Rangers last September.
Jota was awarded the Goal of the Year at last night’s Celtic Player of the Year Awards and whilst we all remember the goal and the celebration, the Portuguese winger reminded us all that the goal wouldn’t have been possible without an important contribution from a Celtic teammate.
Jota said [Sky Sports], “Yeah, definitely a good moment. Shout out to Matt O’Riley for the help because it was an amazing pass.
“And I’m just happy that the people have voted on this. Without the teammates and the help I wouldn’t be able to achieve this. So thank you.
“This one was special I have to say. I have to say as well that every goal is amazing and the next one will always be the most important. But this one in a big game definitely is one I want to keep on the books and just to remember one day.
“It’s always really good to do that in front of our fans family. And I just want to keep on doing that and we live for these moments and that’s what I want to do.”
Jota was asked to sum up his feelings on the season so far after the recent Glasgow Derby disappointment. The Hoops favourite now seems to have the treble firmly in his mind.
Jota continued, “It’s definitely a very good season for us. We worked really hard to achieve these things at this stage of the season. There is still one to go and we are going to just reunite everyone and go strong for the last one because we want to win.”
Jota has been in superb form for Celtic this season. The 24-year-old has netted 14 goals and created 11 assists to help Celtic’s pursuit of winning a treble.
Jota has picked up a habit of scoring important goals against Rangers this season. His goal in the Scottish Cup semi-final also produced another iconic moment for the Portuguese star as he stood in front of the Rangers end with his arms outstretched.
I’m sure I speak for many when I say that the £6m spent on Jota was an incredible piece of business and it seems that if he keeps his current form up for Celtic, international recognition may not be too far away.
In other news, All the winners in Celtic’s Player of The Year Awards
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