David Moyes praised his players after they dug deep to give Sunderland’s fans an early Christmas present on home soil.
The Blacks went into the game on the back of two defeats which had halted a run of three wins from four.
However, Moyes’ side welcomed Watford to Wearside and wiped the slate clean as they looked to collect a valuable three points going into the festive period.
Following a drab first period where both sides cancelled each other out, Adnan Januzaj cranked up the intensity as the Black Cats took control.
Januzaj weaved his way into space, threaded Jermain Defoe who showed great awareness to Patrick van Aanholt who did the rest.
Watford came on strong in the closing stages but hit a brick wall as Lamine Kone and Papy Djilobodji stood firm with Jordan Pickford also to thank for a number of fine stops.
Speaking post-match, Moyes shared his delight and hailed his players commitment to the cause.
"Thankfully we’re back to winning ways with a massive victory, which we needed to get ourselves in a stronger position," he told SAFSee.
"Today was always going to be tough because of the opposition. They’re strong, powerful and have some really good players in the team.
"It wasn’t pretty, I would say that. We are going to have to grind results out," Moyes continued.
"I don’t think we got up to speed in the first half, but in the second we looked more like it. Watford faded a little bit and we were able to capitalise on it"
Click play to watch the manager's post-match interview in full.