Millions of FPL managers suffer Solanke horror

Millions of Fantasy Premier League managers went from ecstasy to agony as Dominic Solanke (£7.2m) won and then missed a penalty for AFC Bournemouth early in the match at home to Sheffield United on Saturday. 

The Cherries forward had been the most-bought player in FPL in Gameweek 28, with more than one million managers signing him for Bournemouth’s two matches, against bottom-side Sheff Utd and again at home to Luton Town on Wednesday. 

Indeed, some 2.1million managers had handed Solanke the armband in search of double points, with an additional 211,000 playing their Triple Captain chip on the player. 

It was the second-most Triple Captain chips played in a Gameweek this season, after 1.33m managers backed Erling Haaland (£14.4m) for his 10-point haul in Double Gameweek 25. 

So, there would have been a great deal of anticipation in the 14th minute of the match at Vitality Stadium when Solanke stepped up to take the penalty that he had won. But to the horror of those millions of managers, Solanke slipped as he kicked the ball, which flew high and wide. 

That miss lost his owners two points,  or -4pts for those who captained him, and -6pts for managers who Triple-Captained him.  

There was more agony in the 66th minute when Solanke put the ball into the net, only for the goal to be overturned after a VAR review found that he had handled in the act of controlling the ball.  

While Bournemouth scored twice in the match to earn a 2-2 draw, Solanke did not contribute to either goal, finishing with zero points in FPL.

All his owners can hope for is that he can redeem himself when he faces Luton at home on Wednesday in the second match of his Double Gameweek 28.