Vakoun Bayo netted a brace as Watford scored four second-half goals to earn a comprehensive 5-1 Championship comeback victory at Preston.
Valerien Ismael’s side came from behind before eventually running riot during what was a superb second-half performance.
It proved a perfect response after they had picked up just a single point from their two previous games.
Preston, meanwhile, continue to stutter and following a brilliant start to their Championship campaign, they have now lost four of their last six and were booed off at the end.
Watford made a bright start at sunny Deepdale. After an early corner-kick was not cleared by a hesitant Preston defence, Ismael Kone should have done better when he scooped over the top from 10 yards.
North End replied by going mightily close to an early opener themselves, defender Jordan Storey rising superbly to meet skipper Alan Browne’s cross, but his thumping header was brilliantly saved by Ben Hamer.
The Watford goalkeeper then did even better when he produced a breathtaking double save to keep out Brad Potts.
It had been an end-to-end opening spell and after 20 minutes the visitors ought to have struck.
Bayo charged through and rounded goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, only for Jack Whatmough to produce a heroic goal-line clearance just as the Watford man was preparing to celebrate.
Back came Ryan Lowe’s men and Hamer had to be alert again to keep out Liam Millar’s thumping effort.
Preston scored a super little goal after 27 minutes to break the deadlock. Will Keane grabbed it, courtesy of a cheeky back-heel flicked finish as he met Millar’s low cross.
Watford evened it up with another impressive goal three minutes before the break. Wesley Hoedt whipped in a super cross for Bayo, who dived in to thump home a bullet header at the far post.
Incredibly, Watford turned the scoreline on its head just 17 seconds after the restart.
Matheus Martins charged on to Ismael Kone’s through-ball before tucking the ball smartly past a stunned Woodman.
Seven minutes later it was 3-1, when Edo Kayembe took Tom Dele-Bishiru’s pass before drilling home brilliantly from almost 30 yards.
North End and their fans had been silenced, while boss Lowe saw fit to make a quadruple change.
That clearly did not work, however, as Bayo converted Kayembe’s pass to make it four, before Kone smashed home a fifth from 15 yards with still 13 minutes left on the clock.
That was the cue for a large proportion of the fans in the home enclosures to up and leave their seats, while the Watford supporters rejoiced behind their goal as Ismael’s team had been ruthlessly clinical.
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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