Chelsea hammered Everton 4-1 to claim a place in the Worthington Cup quarter-finals tonight, while Fulham suffered embarrassment at the hands of second division Wigan Athletic.
Italian maestro Gianfranco Zola undid Everton with two defence splitting passes to set up first Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and then Emmanuel Petit and give the London club a 2-0 half-time lead.
Mario Stanic then headed home a Hasselbaink corner before the Dutch striker claimed his second of the night.
Wayne Rooney summed up a miserable night for the visitors when he had a late penalty saved but Gary Naysmith did manage to grab a consolation goal ten minutes from the end.
Nathan Ellington was Wigan's hero as the second division leaders beat Fulham 2-1 to advance to thequarter-finals.
The highly-rated 21-year-old struck twice in the space of eight minutes mid-way through the first half to give Wigan a deserved half-time lead.
And although Luis Boa Morte pulled a goal back four minutes from the end, the Premiership outfit were unable to get the equaliser that would have forced the tie into extra-time.
Holders Blackburn eased into the last eight with a first half demolition job on Rotherham at Ewood Park.
The signing of Turkey striker Hakan Sukur - finalised earlier on the day - appeared to have the desired effect on the club's current first choice strikers with Dwight Yorke grabbing a double and Andy Cole also on the scoresheet.
It was Yorke's first brace since April 2000 and the first time he and Cole had scored in the same game for the club since their arrival from Manchester United.
Republic of Ireland winger Damian Duff scored Blackburn's fourth two minutes before the break and Rotherham had to work hard to prevent them adding to their tally.
At Villa Park, England striker Darius Vassell doubled his goal count for the season and broke Preston's resistance with goals either side of the break for Aston Villa.
Dion Dublin, Juan Pablo Angel and Thomas Hitzlsperger completed a good night's work for Graham Taylor's side with a goal each in the last ten minutes.
Results
Aston Villa
5-0Preston
Blackburn
4-0Rotherham
Chelsea
4-1Everton
Liverpool
L-LIpswich
Wigan
2-1Fulham