Newcastle United rose to third in the Premier League table courtesy of a late 1-0 win over a resilient Fulham outfit at St James' Park.
Substitute Alexander Isak nodded home the only goal of the contest in the 89th minute as patience paid off for Newcastle, whose former striker Aleksandar Mitrovic had a penalty chalked off for a double touch in a dampening afternoon for Marco Silva's side.
Frustration was the theme for Newcastle in the first half, as Eddie Howe's men huffed and puffed but could not find a way through the impenetrable Cottagers backline.
It took a brilliant last-ditch challenge from Issa Diop to prevent Sean Longstaff from breaking the deadlock with five minutes gone, and subsequent opportunities unsurprisingly fell to Callum Wilson.
However, Bernd Leno was equal to all of the Englishman's efforts, the first of which was a header straight into his arms in the 23rd minute before Wilson's turn and shot was tipped over by the German 16 minutes later.
Just before the break, Wilson created space inside the box but saw his low effort comfortably kept out by Leno, whose Fulham side were not afraid to foray forward either, albeit without success.
The first half could hardly be described as painful for Newcastle fans, but the same could not be said for midfield maestro Bruno Guimaraes, who headed down the tunnel in tears at the break after previously rolling his ankle.
Copious amounts of tape helped Guimaraes get through the first half, but Howe was ultimately forced to bring the Brazilian off at half time, introducing Allan Saint-Maximin as Joelinton - starting despite a recent drink-driving charge - shifted to a midfield role.
The Magpies had started to turn the screw at the end of the first half and came up with the best chance of the contest in the 61st minute, but the crucial goal still eluded them as Fabian Schar's free kick struck the bottom of the post.
However, Fulham continued to provide a threat on the counter and had two penalty shouts waved away within a few seconds of each other in the 64th minute, with Andreas Pereira firstly being told to get to his feet after a tangle with Dan Burn.
Bobby Decordova-Reid was then blocked off by Kieran Trippier, but VAR intervened on that challenge, and Robert Jones awarded a spot kick after Trippier was shown to have clipped Reid's ankle just inside the area.
Ex-Newcastle striker Mitrovic stepped up to the chalk and found the back of the net, but the Serbian slipped as he was taking the penalty and struck the ball onto his left foot with his right, thus leading to the goal being disallowed in the most bizarre of circumstances.
Newcastle fans celebrated that double-touch reprieve nearly as loud as they would have done a goal, which very nearly arrived for them in the 77th minute, but Saint-Maximin fired just wide from inside the D after Wilson did brilliantly to keep the ball alive.
The England striker would keep the ball alive once again in the 89th minute, and this one would pay dividends. Longstaff's cross from the right met Wilson at the back stick, and the Newcastle man won his duel with Diop before flicking the ball back in for Isak to nod home from a yard out.
Newcastle survived five minutes of added time to go above Manchester United in the table on goal difference, while Fulham stay sixth, seven points adrift of the Champions League places.
The Magpies are next in action away to Crystal Palace next Saturday, while Fulham host Tottenham Hotspur in a London derby on January 23. body check tags ::
