Jota scores on Celtic return, Rangers roll over Ross County

Jota broke down in tears after scoring on his return to Celtic to seal a 3-1 win at Motherwell on Sunday that maintained a 10-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

The Portuguese returned to Glasgow last month after ill-fated spells at Al-Ittihad and Rennes and marked his second debut with a goal deep in stoppage time.

Celtic had started brightly as Daizen Maeda headed the Hoops in front after less than a minute.
Luke Armstrong levelled for Motherwell, whose manager Stuart Kettlewell resigned this week due to fan abuse that was affecting his family.

Adam Idah struck twice in Celtic’s 4-2 Champions League defeat to Aston Villa in midweek and continued his scoring streak to restore the visitors’ lead.

Brendan Rodgers’ men were then frustrated in the second half as they had two goals disallowed for marginal offside calls.

But Jota got his moment to savour as he slid in to meet Maeda’s cross and was overcome with emotion during the celebrations.

“You can see in that cameo, he has quality,” said Rodgers.

“So pleased for him. It’s been a really challenging period for him in his time away but he knows everyone loves him here.”

Rangers’ title hopes may have gone but their upward trajectory under Philippe Clement continued with a comfortable 4-0 win over Ross County.

Ianis Hagi struck twice inside the first 25 minutes.

John Souttar added a third before the break and James Tavernier’s penalty rounded off the scoring.
Clement’s men booked their place in the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday by finishing in the top eight of the new 36-team league phase.

“Rangers is for this moment an exciting place to watch if you see the evolution of all these young players, out of nothing, growing and becoming stronger,” said Clement.

“It’s exciting to see how they’re going to grow but I still want more.”