EPL Wrap Up: Dempsey With a Brace

Clint Dempsey's impressive run of form for Fulham continues, as the USMNT midfielder bagged two more goals today in the Cottagers' 3-0 home win over Blackburn. After failing to score in the first 8 Premier League games of the season, Dempsey has now scored 5 goals in the last 5 matches, making him Fulham's highest scorer thus far.

With Fulham leading 1-0, a deflected cross found the feet of a wide open Dempsey cutting through the box. The former New England Revolution star easily put away the bouncing ball to double the lead in the 67th minute. In the 88th minute, Dempsey made it a brace with good strength and composure on the ball. He received a pass into his feet at the top of the six yard box, held the defender off, then turned quickly and slotted home his second goal of the match. His solid play earned him Sky Sports' Man of the Match honors and has also helped vault Fulham into the top half of the league.

Dempsey's goal-scoring form is only adding fuel to the argument that he should be paired with Jozy Altidore at striker for the USMNT. But Clint has been streaky in the past, so who knows how long this run will last. Regardless, it's always good to see a Yank in Europe consistently getting on the scoresheet. Dempsey has really become a star for Fulham and is representing the US well in the EPL.

Elsewhere, Jozy Altidore and Tim Howard squared off in Hull, and it wasn't long before the two matched up. 9 minutes in, a high floating ball to the backpost found Jozy Altidore with two Everton defenders converging. Altidore did very well with his first touch to cut the ball behind the two defenders and towards the center of the field before blasting a shot off the bounce. Howard was able to save this initial effort from Altidore with a fantastic reaction, but the rebound was put away by an unmarked Stephen Hunt to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Jozy would go on to play 75 minutes before eventually being subbed off, as Hull went on to a 3-2 win. After a very slow start to the season, the Tigers have taken 7 points from their last 3 matches and put themselves out of the relegation zone.

While Jozy did not figure in the last two goals, it still must be noted that over the last two games he has played approximately 150 minutes, and in that time, Hull City has scored 6 goals. That is incredible production for a Hull City attack that isn't far from the bottom of the league in goals scored, and the correlation between this kind of offense and Altidore starting is not likely to go unnoticed by Hull boss Phil Brown.

Tim Howard, meanwhile, made 3 saves in the match and could not have done much about the three goals he conceded (which included a fantastic free kick into the upper corner from 25 yards out and a deflected shot that had him wrong-footed). The Everton defense, which has been shaky for a good portion of the season, turned in another middling performance, as the Toffees slide to 14th in the EPL table.