IT doesn’t matter if they have to raid the famous old biscuit tin, or scour down the back of the couches in the boardroom, Celtic should at this very moment be scraping together the £6m or so required to make Jota permanent fixture in their side.
The on-loan Benfica winger was simply unplayable at Dens Park as Ange Postecoglou’s attackers terorrised Dundee for the second time this season. He scored a double – as did Kyogo – and grabbed an assist, and likely left Cammy Kerr and Christie Elliott down the Dundee right suffering from a touch of PTSD.
Credit too should go to Anthony Ralston, who underlined his transformation into a key player for Celtic following his contract renewal with three assists of his own.
As we have come to expect from Celtic though, their scintillating attacking play was punctuated with moments of defensive slackness, and Dundee did get two goals of their own through Danny Mullen to briefly make a contest of proceedings, and then a consolation from Lee Ashcroft.
It is difficult to put a label on the way the visitors are playing at the moment. Is it the Celtic way? The Postecoglou way? The hard way? Perhaps it is a mixture of all three. In any case, it makes for an intoxicating mix that has the Celtic support giddy with excitement.
Celtic manager Postecoglou seemed to learn from his mistake of tinkering with his side for the draw against Livingston last week, and named the same XI who had performed so well against Ferencvaros in Budapest on Thursday night.
Dundee lined up with a back five, but for all they had the numbers back there, they ultimately lacked the solidity and organisation to deal with their livewire opponents.
Before the match started, there was the now annual embarrassment brought upon Celtic by a section of their supporters who saw fit to sing and chant throughout the minute’s silence for Remembrance Day, which had to be cut short by referee Alan Muir.
Not satisfied with that, the away support then also disturbed the start of the game with a protest against the potential appointment of former Police Scotland commander Bernard Higgins to a senior security role with the club.
A banner was unfurled laying out an ultimatum to acting chief executive Michael Nicholson that it was a choice between them and Higgins, before they rained dozens of tennis balls onto the pitch to illustrate that the ball was in his court.
When we at last got back underway, the Celtic players took no time to seize the advantage their bright opening merited. Ralston strolled forward from right-back and unleashed a stinging effort that was deflected off the far post. Jota seized upon the rebound and finished beyond Adam Legzdins.
It wasn’t long before another of the front three got in on the act, with Ralston again playing his part, taking a pass from Liel Abada and clipping the ball up for Kyogo to nod past Legzdins.
It was all so easy for Celtic, but Dundee at last made life a little difficult for them by crafting a goal of striking similarity in response.
Paul McMullan got the ball on the left wing and curled a peach of a cross in that Mullen managed to get to before Joe Hart to glance into the net. A stramash ensued in the net as the hosts tried to retrieve the ball, and Josip Juranovic and Ryan Sweeney both picked up bookings for their part in the handbags.
They might have had another as a touch of complacency set in for Celtic, Cameron Carter-Vickers making a hash of a pass to Stephen Welsh to allow Mullen to nip in. With Hart miles out of his goal, the forward attempted a first time volley, but to the relief of Carter-Vickers he skewed the effort wide.
The big defender almost made amends as he crashed a header from a David Turnbull header at goal, but it was straight at Legzdins, who did well to react to the speed of the effort and divert clear.
Celtic should have had their third just before the interval as another Turnbull corner caused mayhem, this time it was the other centre-back Welsh who found himself free only to make a hash of his finish, nodding wide from all of six yards.
It didn’t take them long to restore their two-goal advantage though after the re-start, and it was that man Ralston again who was the provider, though his contribution of putting Charlie Adam on his backside in the lead-up to Celtic’s third was appreciated by the travelling support almost as loudly as the goal itself.
Having outmuscled Adam, Ralston swung in a brilliant centre that Jota met creeping in from the left to volley beyond Legzdins.
Within the blink of an eye, it was four, and what a goal it was. Jota was on fire, and he played a wonderful exchange with Callum McGregor before cutting back for Kyogo to smash the ball in off Legzdins near post. It was breath-taking stuff, and far too much for the Dundee defence to cope with.
Adam was removed from the action for his own good, before Kyogo – who had taken some heavy treatment – was also taken off on the hour along with Abada to give Giorgos Giakoumakis and James Forrest a taste of the action.
The hosts at least got themselves a consolation, with a helping hand from Hart in the Celtic goal. He came for Jordan Marshall’s cross from the left, got nowhere near it, and allowed Ashcroft to nod home into the empty net.
It mattered little. Jota and co had done the damage. The winger left the field to be replaced by Mikey Johnston with cries of ‘Celtic, sign him up’ ringing in his ears from the away end. That’s one piece of advice from the fans the board would do well to heed.
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