Watford ended a winless run of seven games after surviving a second-half fightback to beat Newcastle 2-1 at Vicarage Road.
Goals from Roberto Pereyra and Andre Gray cancelled out Ayoze Perez's strike in a game which saw the Hornets also have their Premier League status for next season confirmed.
Javi Gracia's side are now eight points ahead of 17th-placed Swansea, who have two games left.
The home side got off to a flyer when Pereyra placed the ball into the corner of the net inside two minutes.
They doubled their lead just before the half hour mark when Andre Gray scored his first goal in nine games with a simple header from six yards out.