Arsenal beat West Brom in a penalty shootout after their Capital One Cup third-round tie finished 1-1 after extra time.
Albion had the best chances of the first half, with a Craig Dawson header being pushed over by Lukasz Fabianski.
There was also Steven Reid's free-kick, seemingly sent over by a slight touch of Fabianski's glove, although the goalkeeper argued he had not made contact, hoping to prevent a corner that was given nonetheless.
In terms of Arsenal's impact in the opening 45 minutes, perhaps the most notable was that of Nicklas Bendtner - making his first Gunners appearance since August 2011 - with a post when he failed to connect with an early cross, and debutant Isaac Hayden on Youssouf Mulumbu with a sliding challenge that saw the 18-year-old Gunner shown a yellow card which could have been red.
There was no question that Fabianski had produced a save, and a good one, to keep out Mulumbu's strike on the hour mark.
But a minute later Arsenal had the lead as Mulumbu lost possession, Bendtner slipped in Thomas Eisfeld and the 20-year-old German midfielder slotted in what was his first Gunners goal on his maiden start.
West Brom equalised in the 71st minute when Saido Berahino, scorer of a hat-trick in round two, headed past Fabianski from close range.
Baggies substitute Morgan Amalfitano hit the bar in extra time but the teams could not be separated over 120 minutes.
In the shoot-out, West Brom initially had the advantage after Luke Daniels saved Serge Gnabry's effort, but misses from Dawson and Amalfitano allowed Nacho Monreal to seal victory for the away side.
Arsenal, who have now won eight successive matches in all competitions, will host Chelsea in round four.
West Brom created an opening early on as Shane Long got his head to skipper Reid's cross, the ball then striking Carl Jenkinson and diverting to Fabianski.
Five minutes later Bendtner missed Ryo Miyaichi's delivery and collided with the post, continuing afterwards having briefly received treatment.
Albion began to settle and after Graham Dorrans shanked an effort, his corner was headed goalwards by Dawson and Fabianski tipped over the bar.
Hayden might have felt lucky to escape with only a booking for his tackle on Mulumbu in the 33rd minute, and Monreal also received a yellow card moments later for fouling Berahino, with Dorrans then blasting the resulting free-kick wide.
The visitors looked to apply some pressure towards the end of the half and after a Monreal shot was blocked, there was a scare for West Brom when Daniels slipped as a corner came into the box, but they managed to clear the ball.
The Baggies went close just prior to the interval as Reid's free-kick whistled over - via a touch from Fabianski according to the match officials.
Eisfeld looped a shot over the bar shortly into the second half, and Thomas Vermaelen then became the third Arsenal player to receive a yellow card, having felled Long.
Albion stepped things up a gear, with Fabianski then diving to excellently palm behind Mulumbu's drive from the edge of the box.
Moments later, though, Mulumbu gave the ball away and Arsenal took advantage as Eisfeld latched on to Bendtner's through-ball to finish.
Berahino came to West Brom's rescue, nodding in from Long's tee-up to draw things level.
Berahino then flashed a shot over, before Diego Lugano picked up the hosts' first booking for a two-footed challenge on Mertesacker.
Extra-time was confirmed after no Arsenal player was able to get a killer touch on Jenkinson's late delivery into the danger zone - and it was the Gunners who progressed to the fourth round.
Birmingham knock out holders Swansea with 3-1 win
Championship side Birmingham capitalised on profligate Premier League visitors Swansea to beat the holders 3-1 in the Capital One Cup third round.
It is just seven months and one day since Michael Laudrup's side lifted the first major honour in their 101-year history with a thumping 5-0 victory over Bradford at Wembley.
But the holders were brought crashing back down to earth by another side who also share fond recent memories of the competition - 2011 winners Birmingham.
It was a classic game of two halves in the third-round tie as the Swans saw plenty of the ball in the opening period and hit the woodwork twice within a matter of seconds through Wilfried Bony and Alejandro Pozuelo.
But the Sky Bet Championship hosts appeared a different animal after the break and Dan Burn headed home his first goal for the club in the 56th minute before Matt Green added a second from close range soon after.
Inspired by winger Chris Burke, who played his part in all three goals, Tom Adeyemi also got in on the act with his maiden goal late on - with Bony netting a consolation with virtually the last touch.
Laudrup had made no secret of his desire to lift the League Cup in successive seasons, despite the heavy demands of the Europa League, although he did make 10 changes from Sunday's Barclays Premier League victory at Crystal Palace, with midfielder Jonjo Shelvey the only survivor.
Yet his in-form side, having won three of their last unbeaten four including a memorable 3-0 triumph in Valencia, were unable to reproduce their heroics from the Mestalla in the midlands.
The only downside of the evening for Birmingham was that there was only 7,470 in attendance to watch what was arguably the biggest upset of the third round.
There was very little for the sparse crowd to get excited about inside the opening stages, but that all changed in the 18th minute.
Jonathan de Guzman's corner was headed goalwards by Bony but Paul Caddis, stood next to the back post, reacted quickly to nod the ball up against the crossbar and out in the direction of Pozuelo, who duly hammered the rebound back against the woodwork.
Yet no sooner had the excitement passed than the game fell back into its previous pattern - Swans passing the ball around neatly without great penetration and Blues keen to hustle and counter where possible.
Bony was proving the liveliest outlet on the pitch and he saw a close-range shot well blocked in the 30th minute before curling another effort narrowly wide soon after.
Birmingham skipper Paul Robinson produced a great tackle to deny the Ivorian when he found himself one-on-one before goalkeeper Colin Doyle used his legs to block from Roland Lamah when he was also sent clean through.
The hosts immediately looked more dangerous after the interval and Green fired their first real chance straight at Swans stopper Gerhard Tremmel, inspiring the home crowd in attendance.
And it was the hosts who duly broke the deadlock - Burke finding Caddis down the right and his cross was headed home by Burn from six yards.
Just five minutes later and Birmingham were in dreamland as Burke, again the creator, found Mitch Hancox down the left and he crossed low for Green to fire home from close range.
Swansea were reduced to long-range efforts as they searched for a route back into the game.
But all hopes of a comeback were extinguished in the 81st minute.
Adeyemi caught out Jordi Amat on the edge of his own penalty area and the ball broke for Burke, who played the ball back to the midfielder to wrap up a superb evening for Lee Clark's side - despite Bony's injury-time header from Wayne Routledge's corner.
Newcastle pair Cisse and Gouffran see off Leeds
Papiss Cisse scored his first domestic goal since April as Newcastle saw off a spirited Leeds side 2-0 in the Capital One Cup third round, the Senegalese striker powering home a header after fine work from Sammy Ameobi.
Newcastle survived an early scare, Ross McCormack's chip looping over Tim Krul only to see his shot come back off the crossbar, but took the lead after half an hour.
Yoan Gouffran scored his first home goal to put the game beyond doubt, firing a shot from the edge of the box and past Paddy Kenny.
Newcastle had admitted in a fans' meeting the evening before the game that the cups "were not a priority" for the club, but Alan Pardew still named a strong side, with Mike Williamson the only player selected who is yet to make a Premier League appearance this season.
Meanwhile, Leeds manager Brian McDermott made four changes from the team that lost at home to Burnley, with Matt Smith and Dominic Poleon starting in attack.
Leeds gave as good as they got for long periods with powerhouse frontman Matt Smith causing all kinds of problems for defenders Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson - and the visitors were only denied an early lead by the crossbar after Tim Krul saw Ross McCormack's delicate effort sail over him.
Both goals were created by midfielder Sammy Ameobi as he made the most of the opportunity afforded to him by manager Alan Pardew.
It was Ameobi's inch-perfect cross which handed Cisse a regulation chance to score by the standards of is early form on Tyneside, and his pass from which Gouffran turned his man and fired home with 67 minutes gone.
Pardew had demanded a significant improvement on Saturday's performance against Hull when despite twice taking the lead, the Magpies lost 3-2 and in the process passed up a golden opportunity to win three successive Barclays Premier League games.
He nevertheless made six changes to the side which started against the Tigers, two of them handing chances to youngsters Paul Dummett and Ameobi, and his new-look side found themselves engaged in a full-blooded cup-tie from the off.
However, Pardew will have been delighted with the way they stuck to their task to finally see off Leeds and deny Brian McDermott, the man he gave his chance in the game at Reading, a Premier League scalp.
Finally, there was a heartwarming moment after 11 minutes, when both sets of fans stood as one to applaud and pay tribute to Gary Speed, star midfielder for both clubs, who passed away almost two years ago.
Stoke win 2-0 at Tranmere to progress
Stoke booked their place in the Capital One Cup fourth round after Stephen Ireland and Peter Crouch scored in a 2-0 win at Tranmere on Wednesday night.
Irish midfielder Ireland, hoping to rejuvenate his career after moving on a season-long loan from Aston Villa, struck midway through the first half with Crouch striking with the last kick of the game.
Stoke should have won more comfortably and spurned numerous other chances, particularly in the first half.
They were almost made to pay as Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and Chris Atkinson went close for Rovers in the second half but the Merseysiders were to rue the misses as Crouch had the final say.
Stoke had made seven changes, which included giving Ireland a run from the kick-off after two substitute appearances and a first start of the season for Crouch.
Hughes also rested first-choice goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to give Thomas Sorensen 90 minutes while Jermaine Pennant and Wilson Palacios were other inclusions.
Tranmere, having won just once and lying 19th in League One, were not expected to provide much opposition and even rested their veteran 40-year-old defender Ian Goodison with other matters pressing.
The Premier League side's superiority, despite the changes, was evident from the outset and, as appears to be becoming customary under Hughes, they passed the ball around effortlessly.
A first chance opened up when Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic, looking to
confirm positive first impressions at the club, fired wide from 35 yards.
A succession of opportunities came along with Glenn Whelan missing the target, Ireland having a shot deflected wide and Crouch heading at Owain Fon Williams.
The opening goal came after 23 minutes as Arnautovic slipped in Ireland and the former Manchester City star stroked a fine low finish across Fon Williams into the far corner.
Tranmere offered little aside from a tame shot at Sorensen from Akpa Akpro after what had seemed a threatening run. Crouch almost let in Ryan Lowe after a careless pass but the Stoke defence recovered.
Geoff Cameron had Stoke's first chance of the second half when he shot across goal after good hold-up play by Crouch, who headed over soon after from a Pennant cross.
At times it seemed Stoke's play was too elaborate and more of their traditional direct style might have put the game beyond Tranmere earlier.
The home side produced one of their best moments after 56 minutes when Akpa Akpro cut inside from the left on a good counter-attack but curled his shot over.
Stoke were again almost punished when Lowe pulled back a deep Akpa Akpro cross but Atkinson sliced wide from a clear-cut opportunity.
Tranmere were growing in confidence and wanted a penalty when Lowe went down after a clash with Marc Muniesa but referee David Coote was not interested.
Substitute Jonathan Walters had two chances to finish the contest inside the last eight minutes but headed over and then shot wide after shaping to go round Fon Williams.
But Walters did make a telling contribution as time ran out, playing in Crouch and the forward delicately chipped over Fon Williams.
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