Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea not only opened up the title race, it also powered one Fantasy Premier League manager to an astonishing Gameweek triumph.
Entering his “L3Gendary XI” line-up for the first time in Gameweek 33, Ibrahim Dirir’s confidence in Jose Mourinho’s men was to prove pivotal.
An inspired move for striker Marcus Rashford (£6.5m), combined with swoops for defender Eric Bailly (£5.4m) and midfielder Ander Herrera (£6.3m) delivered 27 points from Sunday’s contest.
Rashford capitalised on a rare start up front to score the opening goal, while Herrera went on to produce 13 points – by far his biggest return of the campaign.
They were joined in Ibrahim’s line-up by a cast of fellow differentials.
Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany (£5.9m), owned by only 0.5% of FPL managers, delivered the highest individual score of the Gameweek with 14 points in the 3-0 win at Southampton.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim also chose to put faith in the 3.0%-owned Stoke City midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri (£6.0m), who supplied just his second double-figure score of the season in the victory over Hull City, contributing a further 13 points.
While those were risky acquisitions, Ibrahim took few chances with his captaincy.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane (£11.5m) claimed the armband and duly delivered his seventh double-digit haul, scoring 12 points after a goal, assist and maximum bonus points in Spurs’ 4-0 win over AFC Bournemouth.
Admittedly, fortune also played its part in Ibrahim’s achievement, with Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (£5.5m) and Middlesbrough forward Alvaro Negredo (£6.2m) swapped off the bench to supply a further 14 points.
But, with no chip in play and some extraordinary signings delivering big, Ibrahim was deserving of such luck.
As Manager of the Week, he earns a copy of FIFA 17, a Nike Ordem 4 match ball and an FPL mug, all packaged in a Fantasy Premier League rucksack.