Luca Kjerrumgaard scored twice for Watford as they felled high-flying Middlesbrough
Rob Edwards left Vicarage Road frustrated again after Middlesbrough's promotion hopes were dented by his old club Watford.
Edwards was back at Vicarage Road for the first time since his sacking in 2022 after just 11 matches.
And the Boro boss left disappointed again as the Teessiders missed a great chance to move level on points with Coventry City at the top of the Championship.
Watford were ruthless in their finishing as Luca Kjerrumgaard scored twice after Imran Louza's early opener, despite the visitors having more possession and shots.
For Watford, who moved up to 10th, it was their fourth successive home win and Javier Gracia's second victory from his four games since returning as manager last month.
He will be hugely satisfied with the result as the Hornets also registered their first clean sheet at the 13th attempt.
Watford goalkeeper Egil Selvik denied Hayden Hackney to set the theme for the day before Kwadwo Baah crossed for Louza to fire home the opener after 15 minutes with his fifth goal in seven games.
Selvik was in no mood to be beaten and the Norwegian saved a free-kick from Matt Targett before he kept out a right-footed volley from Hackney.
The Hornets made it 2-0 on 32 minutes when Jeremy Ngakia crossed for Kjerrumgaard to steer the ball home.
Mamadou Doumbia thought he had registered his first of the season on 49 minutes with a 20-yard effort, but Kjerrumgaard got the final touch for his second of the afternoon.
Still Middlesbrough kept coming forward, and Watford defender Mattie Pollock did well to halt Tommy Conway before Hackney fired wide again.
Edwards and Middlesbrough knew it was not their day when Morgan Whittaker missed a tap-in at the back post.
'It was the result we were looking for' - Gracia
Gracia: 'It was the result that we were looking for'
Watford boss Javier Gracia told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"I'm happy because it was the result we were looking for after our last defeat in Coventry.
"We have to recognise in the beginning of the game, the opponent had more control of the game, they dominated some minutes without clear chances.
"But later after some minutes, we were able to take control and create some chances and we scored some fantastic goals.
"In the end, we were better and we got a clean sheet. That's really important for us and it's our first of the season.
"Today you could see the quality of all our players. They were hungry and they showed the right mentality."
'We'll all learn from this' - Edwards
Edwards: Watford defeat 'really disappointing' for Boro
Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards told BBC Radio Tees:
"It's a really disappointing result. I was actually really excited about this game and I thought we started well.
"It was about managing those moments and the biggest part of our message to the boys, as soon as we lose it, make sure we manage their counter-attacks and stop them switching it because they have pace in the wide areas, and we didn't do that.
"There was not loads and loads wrong, and we got into areas loads of times, but didn't make it count. At both ends of the pitch, we were second best. We'll all learn from this."
Player of the match
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
