Jota was a surprise Celtic starter vs Dundee as Nicolas Kuhn dropped to the bench.
Celtic fans were pleasantly taken aback as Jota was named in the starting XI as Dundee visited Celtic Park last night.
Jota has been a welcome addition to the Celtic first-team squad and already the Portuguese winger has made an instant impact at the club.
With a goal and an assist to his name already, Jota has reestablished his Celtic fan-favourite status and after last night’s performance, Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers will be over the moon with his new signing.
With match fitness being a concern, no one really expected Jota to start last night but here, Rodgers explains the winger’s inclusion and why Nicolas Kuhn was dropped to the Celtic bench.
Brendan Rodgers lays out Jota development over ‘the coming months’ at Celtic
Rodgers told BBC Radio Scotland, “It will be [emotional], I think that having been through a lot since he left the club, he obviously made a huge impact here in his couple of seasons.
“But now coming back to a place where he’s appreciated and wanted and loved and hopefully over these coming months, we’ll see that in his football.
“He made a nice little introduction at the weekend. He’s got a chance to start tonight to build up his football fitness, and we’ll look to develop that over the coming months.”
With Raith Rovers up next, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the same starting lineup on Saturday. Rodgers is getting the best of both worlds right now.
Jota is getting match sharpness back and Kuhn is getting some rest and that can only be a good thing with Bayern Munich coming up at Celtic Park and the push for a domestic treble.
Jota’s incredible Celtic stats vs Dundee
Rated 8.1 by Fotmob, Jota was one of Celtic’s best players in the rout of Dundee.
As well as his assist, the Portuguese winger tormented the Dundee defence as enjoyed his second Celtic Park debut.
So with that in mind, here is Jota’s stats as Celtic hammered Dundee at Parkhead:
- Minutes played: 62
- Assists: 1
- Total shots: 1
- Passing Accuracy: 82%
- Shot Accuracy: 100%
- Touches: 47
- Touches in opposition box: 4
- Dribble success: 100%
- Passes into final third: 1
- Tackle success: 50%
- Interceptions: 1
- Defensive actions: 4
- Ball recoveries: 3
- Duels won: 4/6
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