LIGHT the beacons!
Newcastle ended their clean sheet drought with a 2-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday as Kieran Trippier (£5.7m) became the first defender to pass 200 points in Dream Team this season.
The reliable right-back provided his eighth assist of the campaign as Eddie Howe's side comprehensively outplayed the Red Devils at St James' Park.
Erik ten Hag's men mustered just one shot on target in the game and by the second half it felt inevitable that the Magpies would register their first clean sheet in all competitions since January.
The mini drought was a painful one for a sizeable chunk of Dream Team managers as Nick Pope (£4m) and Newcastle's first-choice defenders are among the most popular assets in the game.
The England goalkeeper banked a much-needed five points having failed to notch any positive returns in the previous eight Game Weeks.
In fact, Pope has reclaimed his place at the top of the goalkeeper rankings from David de Gea (£4.1m) as there was just one point between them prior to Game Week 28 – the Spaniard incurred a minus point in the north east.
Fabian Schar (£3.6m), Dan Burn (£4.1m) and Sven Botman (£3.3m) all added eight points to their respective tallies at the weekend.
The latter is the only one of Howe's preferred back four not inside Dream Team's top ten defenders right now – he's one point adrift in 11th.
But there's no doubt Trippier was the big winner of the fixture.
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2The 32-year-old claimed his eighth Star Man award of 2022/21 to swoop 15 points when all was said and done – only Kevin De Bruyne (£7.7m) has more Star Man awards (nine) at this stage.
At the time of writing, no player has scored more points than the England defender this Game Week.
Having moved onto 210 points overall, Trippier now holds a whopping 74-point lead at the top of the rankings among defenders – Ben White (£4.5m) is the new name in second place.
Not only is Trippier the first double centurion in his position, he may well finish the season as the only defender on 200+ points.
Now that Newcastle's clean sheet drought is over, gaffers will be wondering how many more they can register in the coming weeks.
Howe's side face West Ham, Brentford, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Everton and Southampton before the end of April – a relatively favourable run all things considered.
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