The Whites were quick out of the starting blocks, breaking the deadlock with six minutes on the clock as Billy Sharp capitalised on some slack defending by the Hornets to smash home his fourth goal of the season.

Leeds had the chance to double their lead moments later after a poor clearance gave Lewis Cook a sight of goal, but his effort from distance was snuffed out by Watford stopper Heurelho Gomes.

The hosts added a second in the 19th minute as Rodolph Austin lobbed Gomes with a clever half-volley from just outside of the area.

Watford almost pulled one back on the half hour-mark as chances fell to Juan Carlos Paredes and Matej Vydra in quick succession, but Leeds goalkeeper Marco Silvestri pulled off a fine double save to deny the Hornets.

They went one better as half time approached, with Vydra sliding a pass through to Deeney, allowing the striker to slot the ball beyond Silvestri and give Leeds reason to be concerned ahead of the second period.

Leeds blew golden opportunities to put the game to bed early in the second half as Austin and Sharp both squandered chances to double their tallies, and they were left ruing those misses in the 56th minute.

Watford levelled the contest following a neat team move, which ended with Deeney presenting the ball on a platter for Vydra to rifle home.

It was Watford who looked more likely to find a winner as the game entered its closing stages, with Silvestri denying Vydra his second minutes after he had levelled the match and Almen Abdi firing across the face of goal in the 71st minute.

Their late pressure paid off with 10 minutes to play as Deeney and Vyrda combined again, with the Czech latching onto a through ball from his strike partner and beating Silvestri to score what proved to be the deciding goal.