A sparkling show from Jota turned a regular run out against Championship Blackburn in to a glamour friendly.
The £6.5m signing from Benfica departed the scene of Celtic 2-2 draw after an hour to a standing ovation – and the Rovers players might have been tempted to join in as they were happy to see the back of the attacker. Jota grabbed a superb leveller after Jon Dahl Tomasson’s Blackburn took a shock lead in just 20 second and ran amok for the rest of the time on the pitch.
The 23-year-old tormented Rovers all day and even brought out a few party pieces, with an array of flicks and tricks. Scottish Premiership defences might not want to pour over the footage and Ange Postecoglou 's champions are ready to pick up where they left off last season. David Turnbull’s deflected free kick made it 2-1 and there could have been a few more before the usual rake of changes took a bit of the shape out of the game and Ben Brereton Diaz stuck away a set piece to level for Blackburn Rovers with 15 minutes to go.
But Celtic fans will have been left satisfied their side are heading towards the new campaign with the same swagger they finished the last one.
There’s a few defensive issues to be ironed out in the coming weeks but there’s nothing wrong with the Jota led attack. Giorgos Giakoumakis is still come come in as sat this one out, but it was a familiar Celtic starting line up made up entirely of last season’s heroes.
It was a strong looking side as well as Postecoglou gears up for the big Premiership kick-off against Aberdeen in a fortnight and Blackburn side not shy at putting the boot in was a good test. The Parkhead men have looked pretty slick in pre-season so far – clattering 14 goals in three games.
A decent crowd turned up to hail their title winning troops and expecting more of the same.
Which made it a bit of a surprise when the Hoops got caught cold inside just 20 seconds.
Callum McGregor lost possession a few passes after kick-off and a blink of an eye later Sam Gallagher was in behind and tucking past Joe Hart.
It was merely a minor bump.
Celtic have got serious firepower and they went up through the gears. Jota, Matt O’Reilly and Turnbull began picking Rovers apart and the deficit was overturned within half an hour.
Jota nabbed the leveller when he pounced on a loose ball from a corner kick and superbly slashed in off the post.
The celebrations were a tad muted as he took a sore one in the process, but he was back on his feet and back terrorising Blackburn soon after.
There were some slick moves and close calls before Turnbull made it 2-1 with a low rasping free kick that took a nick on its way past keeper Thomas Kaminski.
Celts could have inflected more damage as they hit the Championship side down both flanks.
It all got too much for poor full back Harry Pickering, who clattered Liel Abada on the touchline. The fact the wide man had nutmegged him moments earlier might have been coincidental.
New boys Benji Siegrist and Alexandro Bernabie appeared after the break to take their Parkhead bows and get in on the fun as the Hoops pushed for a third.
The relentless attacking did leave space for Blackburn to break – but Siegrist would have been happy to be called on to make a fair few decent saves.
He didn’t get much of a sniff when Diaz brilliantly planted a 25 yard free kick in the bottom corner though, after sub Christopher Jullien tripped up his man on the way through.
Here's three things we spotted.
He's Jot the lot
Supporters are always desperate to see new faces each summer but it might be the permanent signings of a familiar one that’s the best bit of business Celtic will do in this window.
Jota penning a £6.5 five-year deal already looks a steal. When the former Benfica man is fit and firing there are few defenders who can live with him.
The 23-year-old was on it against Blackburn and left his markers feeling dizzy at times.
His pace scorched a path down the left, but his quick feet allowed him to dance inside and burrow holes for others to exploit.
The goal was taken with the usual class but it’s his all-round attacking game that will get fans back on their feet this season.
Wild ride
Celtic have scored a barrelled of goals in pre-season, with the Rovers result making it 16 in four games.
But the goals against column suggests it might be another wild ride in some games this coming season, with seven conceded in the three games not against Austrian farmers.
Celts actually had the best defensive record in the Premiership last term, so some of the talk about being fragile at the back was a little misplaced.
It was in Europe we saw a few basketball matches and Postecoglou’s men might be good value on the both teams to score bets again.
They are caught napping in the first minute against Rovers and there were a couple of shaky moments here.
It’s not going to be dull, that’s for sure.
Safe hands
Hart is undoubtedly Celtic’s no.1 and he’s a huge presence for the side both on and off the pitch.
The main man didn’t have much to do in his 45 minutes against Blackburn but there was enough on show from back up Benji Siegrist on his home debut to suggest the former Three Lions star will need to stay on his toes.
Siegrist was a star performer for Dundee United last term so Celtic already knew what to expect.
But he gave a reminder against Blackburn as he produced several smart stops whenever the English outfit threatened on the break.
In the short term Siegrist will be a superb insurance policy if Hart gets hurt, but he’ll also give boss Postecoglou the option to rest his main no.1 if the fixture list gets hectic.
In the long term, who knows, but for now Celts have two top shot stoppers on the books.
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