American Brian McBride. Dempsey scored his fifth Premier League goal of the campaign with a header in a 2–0 home win against Bolton on December 17, lifting his side six points clear of the drop zone. In the club's West London derby against rivals Chelsea on Boxing Day, Dempsey scored the equalizing goal as the game ended in a 1–1 draw. Dempsey became only the second American to post a hat trick in the FA Cup behind Chris Cleary with the first hat-trick of his career on January 7 against Charlton Athletic in their FA Cup Third Round game that ended in a 4–0 victory. On January 21, 2012, Dempsey scored his first Premier League hat-trick against Newcastle while the game ended in a 5–2 win for Fulham and sent his goal tally in the Premier League to nine for the season. With his hat-trick against Newcastle, he became the first ever U.S. player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League. Dempsey scored his 10th Premier League goal of the season, sixteenth in all competitions, in a 1–1 draw against former manager Roy Hodgson's West Brom on February 1, 2012. Dempsey "assisted" another goal in a 2–1 win against Stoke City on February 11, 2012. His 28th-minute shot hit the crossbar and was deflected by Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen. It was therefore awarded as an own goal off the goalie. His form this season continued against Wolverhampton Wanderers where Dempsey scored twice in a 5–0 victory for Fulham. On March 8, 2012, the day before Dempsey's 29th birthday, Fulham manager Martin Jol revealed that the club had opened talks with the North American over a new three-year contract. Dempsey scored his fourteenth and fifteenth Premier League goals of the campaign, bringing his tally to twenty-one in all competitions, in a 3–0 away win over Bolton Wanderers on April 7, the first a free kick and the second a header. The strikes moved Dempsey past Louis Saha's record of thirteen Premier League goals for the club in a single season. Dempsey finished fourth on the FWA Footballer of the Year list behind the winner, Arsenal's Robin van Persie, and Manchester United pair Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes, who came in second and third, respectively. Dempsey became the first American player to reach the milestone of fifty goals in the Premier League, with a free kick against Sunderland in the last