Sunderland made a decent start to life without sacked manager Paolo Di Canio by dispatching Peterborough 2-0 with strikes from Emanuele Giaccherini and Valentin Roberge.
Tottenham and Manchester City amassed nine goals between them as they powered into the fourth round of the Capital One Cup with easy victories.
Spurs thumped Barclays Premier League rivals Aston Villa 4-0 with Jermain Defoe scoring twice and Paulinho and Nacer Chadli also hitting the target.
City continued where they left off in Sunday's 4-1 drubbing of Manchester United by putting Wigan to the sword.
Stevan Jovetic was on target twice, scoring his first goals for the club, while Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure and Jesus Navas also struck in the 5-0 rout at the Etihad Stadium.
Fernando Torres scored one and made the other as Chelsea saw off Swindon 2-0.
The Spanish striker edged Chelsea in front just before the half-hour mark, tapping home after Wes Foderingham could only parry a Mata effort into his path.
Ramires scored the second goal after good work from Torres let the Blues double their lead before the break.
Fulham fought back from 1-0 down to overcome Everton 2-1 with Darren Bent netting a 69th-minute winner after Dimitar Berbatov had cancelled out Steven Naismith's opener.
Cardiff staged their own fightback after trailing 2-0 to West Ham, only for Sam Allardyce's side to finish 3-2 winners through a late header by Ricardo Vaz Te.
Ravel Morrison and Matthew Jarvis fired the Hammers ahead and Cardiff responded through Craig Noone and Peter Odemwingie, only to have their hearts broken by Vaz Te.
Gary Hooper was on target six minutes from the end of extra time as Norwich overcame Watford 3-2 at Vicarage Road.
Hooper hit the injury-time equaliser and Josh Murphy also scored as Norwich fought back from a 2-0 deficit built on strikes by Marco Faraoni and Javier Acuna.
Danny Ings nodded in Burnley's winner in a 2-1 home victory over Nottingham Forest having already hauled his side back into contention with the equaliser of Matt Derbyshire's opener.
There were few fireworks at the KC Stadium where Hull's Nick Proschwitz produced the only goal against Huddersfield.
Derby slumped to their first away defeat of the season, losing 2-1 to Leicester despite taking the lead through Chris Martin.
Anthony Knockaert and Danny Drinkwater were on target to ensure Leicester progressed into the last 16.
Gaston Ramirez and Jos Hooiveld ensured Southampton progressed in a 2-0 victory over Bristol City, but Saints were made to work for their place in the next round.