Kagawa makes Super Lig history with debut double

The former Manchester United man arrived on loan from Borussia Dortmund last week and made an immediate impact for his new club.

Shinji Kagawa made Super Lig history on Sunday, becoming the first Japanese player to score in the Turkish top flight as Besiktas thrashed Antalyaspor.

The former Manchester United midfielder moved from Borussia Dortmundbefore the transfer deadline and made an immediate impact for his new club.

Kagawa started Sunday's match on the bench before coming on to replace Adem Ljajic in the 81st minute.

Within a minute he had scored with his first shot on target, sending a low strike that beat goalkeeper Ruud Boffin, and two minutes later he had doubled his tally to complete an impressive debut.

Victory lifted Besiktas into third place in the table after 20 matches, although they remain 11 points behind leaders Istanbul Basaksehir.

The brace brought about the first goals the former Manchester United midfielder has scored all season after he fell out of favour at Dortmund before his loan departure .

Kagawa had only featured four times in all competitions for the Bundesligaside, who sit top of the German top tier with a lead of seven points over Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayern Munich.

Dortmund's sporting director Michael Zorc had some complimentary words about Kagawa when his departure was announced last week: "Shinji is not only an outstanding football player, but also a great friend of our club," he said. "We did not want to deny him this request."

Despite making the move to Turkey on deadline day, the Japan international said in November that he wants to play in Spain before he retires from football.

If he were to eventually move to La Liga it would be the fifth country Kagawa has played in, having started his career in his native Japan before spells at Dortmund, United and now Besiktas.

But for the remainder of the 2018-19 campaign Kagawa will be focused on helping his new club improve on their current third-place position in the Turkish top tier.

He will not feature in any European competitions after Besiktas were knocked out of the group stages in the Europa League, finishing behind Genk and Malmoin Group I.