Holders Chelsea booked their place in the FA Cup fifth round with a 2-0 victory at Preston North End yesterday while Jermaine Beckford's last-gasp penalty earned Leeds United a 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur.
Burnley were the day's fall guys, losing 1-0 to Championship Reading while fellow top flight side Wigan Athletic escaped by the skin of their teeth, drawing 2-2 at League Two Notts County after trailing 2-0.
Premier League Wolves needed a late equaliser to draw 2-2 at home to Championship side Crystal Palace and Fulham had some tricky moments before winning 3-1 at the lowest-placed survivors Accrington Stanley.
League Cup finalists Aston Villa had to work hard to advance with a 3-2 defeat of third-tier Brighton & Hove Albion at Villa Park while Birmingham City stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to 15 with an impressive 2-1 win at Everton.
In another all top-flight clash Portsmouth guaranteed some much-needed income with a 2-1 home victory over Sunderland.
Five times winners Chelsea took the lead when Nicolas Anelka shot powerfully past goalkeeper Andy Lonergan in the 36th minute before doubling their advantage when Daniel Sturridge finished from close range two minutes after the restart.
Championship side Preston, managed by Darren Ferguson, son of Manchester United boss Alex, missed a gilt-edged chance when Darren Carter shot over an open goal in the first half.
"We found it hard in the first half but that's what the FA Cup is all about," Chelsea captain John Terry told ITV. "It has been an amazing day. When you come to grounds like this it's what the Cup is all about, smaller clubs giving their all."
Leeds brought a noisy travelling army of fans to White Hart Lane as the once-mighty Yorkshire side who now play in the third tier of English football attempted to shock Tottenham as they had done Manchester United in the third round.
It looked as though Roman Pavlyuchenko's 75th minute goal had won an exciting tie for Tottenham but Beckford, whose goal knocked out United in round three, buried a penalty past Huerelho Gomes deep in stoppage time to grab a replay.
Peter Crouch had given Tottenham a half-time lead only for Beckford to scramble an equaliser early in the second half.
Championship strugglers Reading did manage a repeat performance. After beating Liverpool in a replay at Anfield in the previous round, an 88th-minute goal from Gylfi Sigurdsson dumped Burnley out of the competition.
Two sides battling for promotion back to the Premier League met at the Hawthorns where West Brom beat Championship leaders Newcastle 4-2.
After two successive Premier League defeats by Arsenal, Owen Coyle enjoyed his first victory as Bolton Wanderers manager when his side beat Championship team Sheffield United 2-0 at the Reebok Stadium.