Jordan Ayew's eighth goal of the season was enough to hand Crystal Palace a narrow 1-0 win over Watford to all but guarantee their Premier League safety.
Palace manager Roy Hodgson, who had signed a new contract until 2021 earlier in the week, were unchanged from their 1-0 win against Brighton last time out, with James McCarthy recovering from a hamstring injury picked up in that game.
With both sides in the bottom half of the table and goals not exactly a frequent sight between them, the first quarter of an hour produced a scrappy affair.
Abdoulaye Doucoure showed his quick feet to burst through the Palace defence and saw his effort beaten away by Vicente Guaita as the visitors pressed for an opener.
But with their first attempt on goal, Palace found the opener after 28 minutes with a nicely worked move. Christian Benteke rolled it out wide to Wilfried Zaha and his cross eventually found Ayew, who found the back of the net with a fine finish from 20 yards.
Despite the contest turning somewhat feisty towards the end of the half, Palace were comfortable at the back and in possession with Guaita rarely troubled.
Just two minutes in the second half, tensions boiled over when Zaha - already booked - reacted angrily to a foul from Etienne Capoue and appeared to raise his arm towards the Watford man. VAR reviewed the incident and decided against handing out a second yellow card to the Ivory Coast winger.
The 27-year-old very nearly had the last laugh, showing pace and agility to fake his way past two defenders before striking straight at Ben Foster.
Watford rallied in the last quarter of the match and Guaita had to be on hand to deny Troy Deeney and then Doucoure in a matter of minutes.
But Palace held firm to seal a third consecutive 1-0 win as they climbed into the top half and now look poised to secure Premier League football for another season.
Crystal Palace XI: Guaita; Ward, Dann, Cahill (c), van Aanholt; McCarthy, McArthur, Kouyate; Ayew, Benteke, Zaha.
Subs: Hennessey, Kelly, Riedewald, Milivojevic, Meyer, Schlupp, Townsend.
Watford XI: Foster; Femenia, Kabasele, Cathcart, Masina; Capoue, Hughes; Sarr, Doucoure, Pereyra; Deeney.
Subs: Gomes, Dawson, Mariappa, Welbeck, Chalobah, Gray, Pussetto.
