Watford lifted the pressure on head coach Alessio Dionisi and quelled their supporters' rebellion against owner Gino Pozzo with a deserved 2-0 win against sluggish Charlton.
After shipping nine goals in calamitous defeats by Burnley and Cardiff, Dionisi's side had slumped into the bottom three and the fans had turned their anger on Pozzo.
But goals from Luca Kjerrumgaard and substitute Jordan Zemura - the Zimbabwe defender's first for the club - extended Charlton's worrying run to eight games without a win as the Addicks were booed off at Vicarage Road.
Watford, on the other hand, kept their first clean sheet in 210 days with only their second win in three months.
Despite the mood of insurrection swirling around Pozzo on social media, protests against his 14-year ownership outside the ground before kick-off were limited.
In the stands, the atmosphere was entirely supportive as Watford made a bright start, Senegal World Cup star Krepin Diatta extending Charlton goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo after a quarter of an hour.
The Addicks should already have been ahead by then after the unmarked Miles Leaburn headed Ivan Mesik's cross wide from six yards.
But Watford, lively and assertive despite six defeats in their previous seven games, made most of the running as Myron Boadu fired wide from the edge of the box before the same player was thwarted by Billy Koumetio's superb last-ditch tackle.
At the other end, Koumetio was narrowly off target with a first-time effort from a half-cleared corner as Charlton finished the first half strongly, but the Hornets were soon back on the front foot after the break.
Boadu, played clean through by Kjerrumgaard's chested pass, rolled his finish wastefully wide of Okonkwo's right-hand post but in the 58th minute Watford were in front.
Edo Kayembe's shot from the edge of the box was only parried by Okonkwo and Kjerrumgaard devoured the rebound from close range, only his second goal of the season.
If Okonkwo was at fault for the goal, he fared better when he tipped Kayembe's low, fizzing rocket round a post before the DR Congo international fired over from a favourable angle.
Only with time running out did Charlton sustain any pressure on Watford's goal, with Addicks sub Charlie Kelman's prodded effort cleared off the line by Mamadou Doumbia.
But on the break Watford spurned a succession of chances as Martin Payero's near-post header was brilliantly parried by Okwonko, Doumbia should have done better than a weak finish and Payero bent a 25-yarder just wide.
Finally, four minutes into stoppage time, two substitutes combined to make the points safe, Zemura dinking an exquisite finish over the advancing Okwonko from Rocco Vata's pass.
Watford's Alessio Dionisi:
"I'm very happy because it was not easy this week for everyone at the club. We lost two matches after the international break, but we believe in this team and we stayed together.
"My team is not yet strong enough for the Championship but it's possible to improve. Today is a good day for everyone, for our supporters, and the result was right.
"The mentality didn't change - I know my team and I believe in my team. After we went 1-0 up, it was so-so for a time but we still created a lot of positive situations to score.
"I have been a coach for 14 years and I know when my team stays near my idea. This result is important and tonight I will drink a glass of red wine."
Charlton's Nathan Jones:
"You can't say [Miles Leaburn] hasn't had chances. I've had teams with centre-forwards six feet six or six feet seven tall, and when you put the ball in the box it should be Goodnight Irene.
"We put balls in the box and he's got to learn, but we were a mile off. We had seven or eight players who came out of it without any real credit. We didn't do anything well enough.
"We were all over the place. We didn't pass the ball well enough and we didn't defend well enough. It was important we scored first because of the predicament Watford have been in. The first goal was catastrophic from our point of view, but they will hurt you if you don't do the basics well."
