Chelsea and Tottenham advanced to the last 16 of the League Cup on Wednesday with victories over second-tier opposition, while defending champion Manchester United eliminated Premier League rival Wolverhampton on Wednesday.
Peter Crouch scored three goals as Tottenham routed Preston 5-1 and Salomon Kalou scored at the start of the second half to clinch Chelseas 1-0 win over west London neighbor Queens Park Rangers.
The Red Devils played for an hour with 10 men but Marcus Hahnemann gave up Danny Welbecks 66th minute goal in Wolves 1-0 loss.
Manchester City needed captain Kolo Toures extra time header to oust Fulham, which had Eddie Johnson getting his first start for the club since March 2008.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea extended its club record unbeaten streak to 23 games in Joe Coles return. The captain had missed nine months with a knee injury.
The England midfielder had a chance to score late in the match but struck straight at QPR goalkeeper Tom Heaton. Chelsea was already leading after Cole had slipped the ball through to Kalou in the 52nd minute.
Im very pleased - I helped to make the goal and I should have scored myself, Cole said. Im delighted I wasnt off the pace and I was among the action, but Im not getting beyond myself. This is a stepping stone for me. Ill keep working hard.
It was a rare night in Manchester with both United and City playing at home.
United, which beat Tottenham in the March final, had Fabio Da Silva sent off 30 minutes in.
You cant argue with the red card, but Fabio is only 18 and this experience will help him grow, United manager Alex Ferguson said. Even before we went down to 10 men, Wolves were a threat on the counterattack, but for the last hour we kept our discipline and that was very pleasing.
That never-say-die attitude runs through this club and the goal was of magnificent quality.
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes named a strong lineup, with just one change from the team that lost 4-3 to United in the Premier League on Sunday.
But Zoltan Gera put Fulham in control of the third-round match in the 34th.
City tied it after the break when Gareth Barry headed in Craig Bellamys corner to send the match into extra time, and Toure met Martin Petrovs inswinging corner to send City through to the competition it last won in 1976.
United States goalkeeper Tim Howard had a shutout for Everton, which scored three in the first 24 minutes of a 4-0 win at Hull with Ayegbeni Yakubu, making his first start since last November, Jo and Dan Gosling all finding the net. Leon Osman tapped in a fourth from close range in the 57th.
Aston Villa secured its progression past Cardiff 1-0 after just three minutes when Gabriel Agbonlahor scored for a fourth straight game. American Brad Guzan also had a shutout.
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MADRID - Goals by superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka gave Real Madrid a 2-0 win against a 10-man Villareal in the Spanish League on Wednesday.
Barcelona, a 4-1 winner against Racing Santander a day earlier, leads the standings after four rounds on goal difference ahead of Madrid. Athletic Bilbao is third-place on nine points.
Elsewhere it was Atletico Madrid 2, Almeria 2; Espanyol 2, Malaga 1; Deportivo La Coruna 3 Xerez 0; and Osasuna 2, Valladolid 1; and Tenerife 1, Athletic Bilbao 0.
In only the second minute, Ronaldo attacked on the left wing, deftly evaded two defenders, and shot low inside the near post past outstretched goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
Shortly after that, Villarreal central defender Gonzalo Rodriguez received a yellow card for a rash challenge on Ronaldo, who sent the resulting free kick into the defending wall.
Rodriguez earned a second yellow and his ejection in the 35th for a dangerous kick that hit Kaka in the chest.
Despite being a man down, Villarreal began the second half with some aggressive attacks and strong defense which appeared to catch Madrid by surprise.
After weathering that, Kakas left cross struck Villarreal defender Angel Lopez in the hand within the penalty area, and Kaka converted in the 73rd.
Madrids ninth new player of the season, defender Ezequiel Garay, who was signed a year ago but spent last season loaned back to Racing Santander, was injured in warmups before the match and had to be replaced by Fernando Gago.
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ROME - Inter Milans new strikers Samuel Etoo and Diego Milito tallied in the first five minutes of a 3-1 win over Napoli in the Serie A on Wednesday.
With previously perfect Sampdoria losing 2-0 at Fiorentina, four-time defending champion Inter jumped into first place, though Juventus, which has won each of its first four games, visits Genoa on Thursday.
Inter leads with 13 points, Juventus and Sampdoria have 12 each, and Fiorentina and Parma are next with 10 apiece.
Freshly promoted Parma beat 10-man Lazio 2-1 with goals from Valeri Bojinov and Nicola Amoruso, while AC Milan was beaten 1-0 at Udinese, with Antonio Di Natale scoring his league-leading seventh goal early on.
With two losses, Milan already trails Inter by six points.
The losses dont create a good mood, but I can assure you that the atmosphere in Milans locker room is good, new coach Leonardo said. The goal put us in trouble right away and we had trouble finding the target.
At the San Siro, Etoo pounced on a loose ball directly in front of the goal two minutes in and Milito collected a pass from Maicon behind the defense and scored three minutes later, although replays showed he was offside.
Lucio made it 3-0 with a header following a corner in the 32nd for his first score with Inter since transferring from Bayern Munich.
Ezequiel Lavezzi scored for Napoli in the 30th.
With Fiorentinas Adrian Mutu sitting out and pondering the $25.4 million hes been ordered to pay Chelsea, his replacement Stevan Jovetic put Fiorentina in front in the 25th.
Sampdorias defense left Jovetic all alone to head in a cross from Marco Marchionni. Fiorentina forward Alberto Gilardino then headed in a cross from Juan Manuel Vargas in the 66th.
Francesco Totti converted a penalty in the 87th to earn AS Roma a 3-3 draw under a downpour in Palermo, raising Claudio Ranieris unbeaten streak to three games since taking over the Giallorossi.
Antonio Conte was expelled from his first match as Atalantas manager, a 0-0 draw against Catania that earned the Bergamo club its first point of the season.
Also, it was: Bari 0, Cagliari 1; Bologna 2, Livorno 0; and Siena 0, Chievo Verona 0.
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FRANKFURT - Cologne beat Wolfsburg 3-2 to eliminate the Bundesliga champion from the German Cup, while Hamburger SV lost at third-division Osnabrueck on penalties.
Manasseh Ishiaku scored twice for Cologne in the second-round showdown that saw both Wolfsburgs coach Armin Veh and defender Marcel Schaefer ejected late in the game.
Bayer Leverkusen, second in the Bundesliga, lost 2-1 in Kaiserslautern, the second-place team in the second division.
American Kenny Cooper scored for Hertha Berlin, which went out on penalties at second-division 1860 Munich. The club has lost five straight in the Bundesliga.
Stuttgart rallied to win 3-1 in extra time over fourth-division Luebeck.
Hamburger SV trailed until the final seconds of injury time when Piotr Trochowski converted a penalty to make it 2-2 and send the game into extra time after his team had been two goals down. Mladen Petric began the comeback in the 77th.
Holder Werder Bremen edged second-division St. Pauli 2-1 on a late goal by defender Naldo to reach the third round and Eintracht Frankfurt also beat a second-division team, Alemannia Aachen, 6-4.
