Americans Abroad: Dempsey hat trick sparks Fulham to advance to FA Cup fourth round.

Dempsey hat trick sparks Fulham to advance to FA Cup fourth round.

By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
SoccerTimes

(Monday, January 9, 2012) -- United States midfielder Clint Dempsey had possibly his best match ever for Fulham of the English Premier Legaue, scoring three goals to lead a 4-0 victory Saturday over Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round in a match-up of London clubs.

With some 7,000 of its fans among the 20,317 in attendance at Craven Cottage, visiting Charlton of the second-tier League Championship actually played well, but the day belonged to Dempsey.

Dempsey opened the scoring in the eighth minute when he connected with a deflected through ball from Danny Murphy and flicked it home.

In the 61st minute, he worked a give-and-go with Costa Rican international Bryan Ruiz taking a return pass and putting it under goalkeeper John Sullivan.

Dempsey completed the hat trick with a penalty kick in the 81st minute.

U.S. keeper Tim Howard made a pair of saves in a clean sheet for Everton, which won its FA Cup third-round match 2-0 over fifth-division Tamworth of the Conference National.

In his second game for Everton since arriving on loan from the Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy, U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan had a strong match, assisting on Everton's first goal with a perfectly placed corner kick that Johnny Heitinga headed home in the fifth minute.

Near the end, Donovan hit the inside of a goal-post from close-range.

American Marcus Hahnemann was dressed as Howard's backup.

U.S. keeper Brad Guzan excelled for Aston Villa, which overcame a strong challenge from Bristol Rovers of the fourth-tier League Two to triumph 3-1.

Guzan made six saves, including a saving a penalty kick, and the only goal he gave up was the result of a lazy, misplaced back-pass that never reached him.

U.S. defender Jonathan Spector went 90 minutes for Birmingham City of the League Championship which drew 0-0 with the Premier League's Wolverhampton Wanderers, necessitating a replay.

American defender Daniel Potts went the distance and was issued a yellow card for the League Championship's West Ham United as the second-division club was ousted from the FA Cup 1-0 by Sheffield Wednesday of the third-tier League One, thanks to an 88th-minute goal.

Glasgow Rangers of Scotland's Premier League had an easy time winning their fourth-round William Hill Scottish Cup match 4-0 over Arbroath of the second division.

U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra and midfielder Maurice Edu both went 90 minutes with Rangers taking no chances, even though they were playing a lower-division opponent.

Bocanegra received a yellow card in stoppage time, while U.S. midfielder Alejandro Bedoya was dressed, but didn't play for Rangers.

Earlier in the week, Rangers turned down a reported offer of $773,000 offer to send Edu to Sochaux. The French team, home of American striker Charlie Davies, has been after Edu for some time.

"What I would say is the bid that they put in was so far away (below what Rangers might expect) that I would be very surprised if they came back in," Rangers manager Ally McCoist told the BBC.

In Italy, Serie A is back in action and U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley and visiting Chievo Verona fel 2-0 at Roma on Sunday afternoon. Chievo actually played well, but Francesco Totti converted two penalty kicks to provide the margin of victory.

In a highly physical encounter in Portugal that resulted in eight yellow cards, Sporting Lisbon drew 0-0 with rival FC Porto. U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu went the distance for Sporting and drew one of the club's four cautions.

Robert Wagman is SoccerTimes senior correspondent.

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