Tottenham Hotspur fell to Leeds United in Sunday's FA Cup clash, 2-1, but American supporters will be glad to see that Clint Dempsey continued his brilliant 2013 form, scoring his fifth goal in five matches this calendar year.

Dempsey's goal came in the 58th minute off a cross from Gareth Bale. Dempsey had missed a difficult up-close chance a few minutes earlier but made no mistake when Bale's delightful cross came from the left wing. Dempsey cut in front of his marker, Tom Lees, and nodded the ball past Leeds goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown into the far corner.

Tottenham, which was missing both Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor used Dempsey up top—not his preferred position. Accordingly, the club seemed disjointed for large stretches of the match. Spurs tried to claw back but Leeds defended gallantly and held on for a deserved victory.

Luke Varney put Leeds ahead in the 15th minute off a clever pass from El-Hadji Diouf that sent him on goal down the left flank. Playing a high line, the Spurs defense—in particular Kyle Naughton—allowed Varney to slip through and the veteran striker cooly hit a right-footed strike into the far corner past goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

United doubled its lead five minutes into the second half when Ross McCormack went in alone on Friedel and pushed the ball past the American keeper. Friedel, it must be said, looked a bit rusty and could have done better on both goals.