Schwarzer's Asian Cup campaign with Australia had ended only four days earlier, but he returned to the Cottagers side and highlighted his value as Fulham moved up to 12th with the win.

Damien Duff had given Fulham a second-half lead but they were grateful to Schwarzer late on when he made a brilliant point-blank save to deny Newcastle's Kevin Nolan.

Fulham boss Mark Hughes said: "At one-nil there's always a worry that they might get one at the end and we're grateful for a great save by Mark Schwarzer. Overall, I think we fully deserved the win tonight."

Elsewhere, Socceroo David Carney went straight into the Blackpool starting XI, taking Ian Evatt's spot at the back and playing a rare full game, as the Tangerines lost 3-1 at home to West Ham.

Meanwhile, Vince Grella was an unused substitute and Brett Emerton was absent as Blackburn lost 1-0 at home to Tottenham, while goalkeeper Brad Jones didn't even make the bench as Liverpool defeated Stoke City 2-0.

In Scotland's Premier League, Aussie youngster Aaron Mooy was an unused substitute as St Mirren lost 2-0 at Hibernian.

In the Greek Cup, Socceroo Nathan Burns wasn't rushed back into the AEK Athens side which lost 3-2 to Panathinaikos, but won through to the semi-finals 4-3 on aggregate.