Chelsea’s defence of their FA Youth Cup title got off to the ideal start as they thumped Cardiff 5-0 to sail into the fourth round.
The Blues have won the last three editions of the competition and if the clash with Cardiff is anything to go by then Jody Morris’ men will once again be the ones to beat.
Mason Mount opened the scoring for the hosts on 17 minutes and they held that slender lead until half-time, but four strikes in the final 25 minutes firmly put the result beyond doubt.
Tariq Uwakwe doubled Chelsea’s lead before Ike Ugbo slammed home a penalty after Connor Davies was penalised for handball.
A fine Jacob Maddox solo effort saw Chelsea score a fourth, before Ugbo rounded off the scoring with his second of the night.
Middlesbrough were also 5-0 winners on Tuesday night as Stephen Walker bagged a brace to dispatch Rotherham.
Connor Malley and Marcus Tavernier handed Boro a 2-0 half-time lead before Walker got his first of the night on 53 minutes.
Jack Lambert looped a header home with 15 minutes left before Walker completed the scoring by rounding the goalkeeper and passing into an empty net.
Elsewhere on Tuesday evening, super-sub James Berry hit a 25-yard winner in the 118th minute as Wigan saw off Exeter City 2-1.
Hosts Exeter took the lead on 25 minutes through Jack Sparkes, only for Shane Donaghey to draw the Latics level with nine minutes remaining.
And 16-year-old striker Berry, a Latics fan who had been at the Liverpool Academy since the age of seven and was only released this week before signing as an apprentice at Wigan 24 hours earlier, climbed off the bench on 70 minutes to make himself a hero in extra-time.
Burnley set up a fourth-round clash with Norwich City thanks to a 2-0 win over Bradford City, with Dwight McNeil and Tommy Wood bagging the goals at a rain-soaked Turf Moor.
And QPR also won by a two-goal margin, although they didn’t have it all their own way at Swindon Town en route to a 3-1 victory.
Paul Furlong’s QPR took the lead at the County Ground through Kingsley Eshun, however the home side pulled level before the break thanks to Christian Frimpong’s header.
But after half-time Josh Bowler scored from the penalty spot before Romeo Akinola’s superb free-kick sealed safe passage into the fourth round.
