thus making history in becoming the first ever American to appear in a major European final. In the end, Fulham lost the match, as Atlético Madrid's Diego Forlán scored in the 116th minute of extra time, giving Atlético a 2–1 win. His performances throughout 2009–10 earned him the designation of Most Valuable Player among Americans in Europe by SoccerOverThere.com, among other sources. 2010–11 season Dempsey was on the substitutes' bench for Fulham's first two away games of 2010–11, but became a regular starter, one of only five U.S. players in the Premier League to do so. On September 18, 2010, he scored an equalizing goal on 56 minutes with a header against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in the 1–1 draw to continue Fulham's unbeaten record in the Barclays Premier League. On October 2, he scored against West Ham United past Robert Green, the same keeper that he had scored against in the World Cup. He continued his form by scoring two goals against Wigan Athletic on October 30 as Fulham ran out 2–0 winners. On January 22, 2011, Dempsey scored another double versus Stoke City, putting Fulham temporarily out of relegation contention. On March 19, Dempsey became the first American player to score 10 goals in a Premier League season, beating Brian McBride's previous record of nine, also set while at Fulham in the 2005–06 season and 2006–07 season. Dempsey broke Fulham's Premier League goalscoring record by netting twice in a 3–0 victory over Bolton on April 27, 2011. He has scored a total of 33 goals for the team in the Premier League, topping both Brian McBride and Steed Malbranque, each with 32. With these goals, he scored 12 goals for Fulham in the 2010–11 season. Dempsey was voted Fulham player of the season for 2010–11 by the Fulham fans, and his 12 Premier League strikes meant he was the club's leading goalscorer for the campaign. 2011–12 season Dempsey scored a brace in the first leg of Fulham's 2011–12 Europa League play-off clash against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk at Craven Cottage. Dempsey ended with two goals as Fulham ran out 3–0 winners, setting up a comfortable second leg in Ukraine. On December 5, 2011, Dempsey scored in the 85th minute to secure a 1–0 win against Liverpool at Craven Cottage. The goal propelled Dempsey to become the most prolific U.S. goalscorer in the Premier League, passing Fulham legend and fellow