Jota return sparks Celtic revival as Motherwell beaten 2-0 to return to Premiership summit

Celtic bounce back at Fir Park

After weeks of acrimony, the full-time scenes at Fir Park on Sunday offered welcome cheer for a disgruntled Celtic support. Off the back of three straight defeats before the international break — two of them inflicted by rivals Rangers — Martin O'Neill's side returned to winning ways with a deserved 2-0 victory over struggling Motherwell that sent them back to the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Camilo Duran fired the visitors in front early on, and midfielder Benjamin Nygren made sure of the points in the second half. Celtic dominated possession and chances — Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen was forced into 12 saves — but the finishing touch of Duran's opener settled a side that had looked rattled in recent weeks.

Jota's long-awaited return

The result was eclipsed, however, by the return of influential winger Jota, who made his long-awaited comeback after almost 18 months on the sidelines with a cruciate ligament injury suffered at Tannadice in April 2025. The Portuguese was introduced as a 74th-minute substitute and almost provided an assist with his first touches in a lively cameo, before leading the post-match celebrations.

"I was waiting on this for a long time," Jota told Sky Sports. "Just happy to be back. I've been working hard, the guys have been helping me as well. It was just the normal nerves, but after I stepped on the pitch everything goes well."

Asked about the mental toll of his long absence, the 27-year-old was candid. "Imagine if someone takes away your child and I've got my child back today - that's how I've been feeling the last year," he said. "I found my child again today and I just want to keep it as long as I can. I'm feeling very good and I'm ready to play more and more and help the team. I know what I can do."

Jota's return had been anticipated for some time. As reported on 25 September 2026, Celtic had planned a behind-closed-doors run-out during the international break to accelerate his recovery, and his appearance at Fir Park suggests those plans bore fruit.

O'Neill 'has his mojo back'

The party atmosphere at full-time was in stark contrast to the gloom that had surrounded the club. Celtic's largest shareholder, Dermot Desmond, was the target of a protest during the Alfred Dunhill Links golf tournament in St Andrews, while O'Neill had questioned whether he had the energy to continue as manager after Rangers won at Parkhead last month — before committing to stay on.

"I could only imagine the pressure on Martin O'Neill - I know what it's like in Glasgow if you are beaten by Rangers twice," former Scotland defender Willie Miller said. "But it seems like he's got his mojo back and is back to his old form and that's what results do. All round, when you look at his team, it must give him a lot of satisfaction."

O'Neill himself acknowledged the turbulence. "Of course, there was a lot of noise and a lot of it we brought on ourselves as well too. So, nice to win," he said. "We have to take the criticism at the time. We lost three matches in a week - two to our big rivals. But we fought back today and let's see what Thursday brings.

"We had a lot of chances and we could have [scored more]. The first goal's really important, a great goal by Camilo and it settled us down which was good. A lot of things have flashed across the box, a number of chances in both halves, but delighted to win. Just really pleased. Pleased with the performance, pleased with the energy that we showed and delighted to win. It's psychologically a big boost to play as well as we did and go back to the top of the table."