Football
02nd Sep 2018
Darragh Murphy
Karius made his debut for Besiktas on Sunday night and came up with a brilliant one-on-one save to deny opponents Bursaspor the chance to take an early lead.
The on-loan Liverpool goalkeeper rushed off his line to close down a strike and got a strong hand to it.
— Daniel I. (@DannLFCTR) September 2, 2018
A clean sheet looked on the cards for the stopper, who joined from the Reds on a two-year deal after coming in for increasing scrutiny for his errors at Liverpool, but it wasn’t to be.
After being booked for time-wasting, Karius found himself in no man’s land in the 86th minute after deciding to rush out to claim a lofted cross that he had no chance of claiming.
Bursaspor forward Diafra Sakho got a toe to the dinked pull-back and tapped it into the net which was left empty.
Karius will hope to return to Anfield a stronger player after his spell with Besiktas, although the 25-year-old revealed that Reds boss Jurgen Klopp tried to convince him to stay on Merseyside.
After arriving in Turkey, Karius said: “Jurgen told me he would like to have me in the squad because he wants to have the best-quality players. But I spoke to him and asked him for my wish. It is important to me to play for Besiktas. I talked with him for a long time and he understood my situation.
“It was a good deal for everyone. He wished me well but said he would have liked to keep me. I came here because I think I can make the next step in my career, improve as a player and also help the whole team to improve. I’m still young for a goalkeeper. I want to make the next step and hopefully win many titles with Besiktas.”
