Peter Crouch made the most of only his third start of the season by claiming a clinical hat-trick to ease Tottenham Hotspur into the last 16 of the Carling Cup with a 5-1 win at Preston North End.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp made seven changes for the third-round tie and Crouch emerged as the prime beneficiary as his predatory strikes took his season tally to five.
He made the most of his recall in the 14th minute when he dispatched Gareth Bale's deep cross with a fine volley and Jermain Defoe effectively put Preston to bed with a predatory header seven minutes before half-time.
With 13 minutes remaining, Crouch tapped home Aaron Lennon's low cross to cap a fine night for Spurs, who were given several scares by Alan Irvine's high-flying Championship outfit.
Preston pulled a goal back in the 83rd minute through substitute Chris Brown, but Spurs substitute Robbie Keane added a fourth with three minutes remaining and Crouch cheekily completed his hat-trick in injury time.
Everton were barely extended as they cruised into the fourth round of the Carling Cup with an emphatic 4-0 defeat of under-strength Hull City.
The tie was effectively settled in the opening 24 minutes as the Toffees powered ahead at the KC Stadium with goals from Ayegbeni Yakubu, Jo and Dan Gosling.
David Moyes' men, finding their form after a poor start to the season, then eased off but took their goal tally to 11 in three matches as Leon Osman added a fourth after 57 minutes.
Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole returned from his long-term knee injury to help defeat Queens Park Rangers 1-0.
The 27-year-old, named by manager Carlo Ancelotti as captain for the evening, was playing in his first match since January and set up Salomon Kalou's winner at Stamford Bridge.
Gabriel Agbonlahor ensured Aston Villa avoided more Carling Cup disappointment with his third-minute goal sufficient to overcome Cardiff City 1-0 at Villa Park.
Villa had crashed out of the competition to lower-league opposition in three of the previous four seasons.
But Agbonlahor continued his hot scoring streak after linking up with fellow striker John Carew to seal a spot in the fourth round.
Danny Welbeck struck the only goal of the match at Old Trafford as a youthful Manchester United side made light of Fabio's early red card to edge past Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0.
Fabio was given his marching orders on 29 minutes for a crude challenge on Michael Kightly and the visitors had their chances but United - for whom Michael Owen made his second start - held firm.
Manchester City captain Kolo Toure banished the club's derby blues by scoring the winner in extra-time at Eastlands to beat Fulham 2-1.
It was his first goal since he arrived from Arsenal in the summer and a welcome one at that.
City found it hard going against Fulham after losing in stoppage time against Manchester United on Sunday but Toure found the target in the 111th minute to take Mark Hughes' men into the last 16.
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson named a completely different starting XI to the one that lost to Wolves in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday and the west Londoners opened the scoring with a wonder goal from Zoltan Gera, only for Gareth Barry to pull City level.
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