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.