Man United again suffered the first-half blues only to recover in time to claim a safe passage into the last sixteen. Villa keep up their winning run, Birmingham taste further cup joy, whilst the rest suffer stalemates which have, thankfully, already been re-scheduled for Fantasy Managers to plan around.

The holders fielded, arguably, their strongest available line-up for the trip to Everton, with Frank Lampard recovering from injury to take his place in the Chelsea starting XI. Carlo Ancelotti’s side had Petr Cech to thank for keeping them in the cup, with a string of saves repelling the home team, as substitute Salomon Kalou snatched an equaliser to deny Everton a deserved victory.

According to the BBC site, the Chelsea-Everton replay is scheduled for Saturday February 19, the same week as the Fifth Round games. The effect, if any, on the Premier League fixtures is not yet fully known but this back-up in games could cause potential havoc down the line.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov started for only the second time since November for Everton, suggesting the departure of Steven Pienaar may lead to increased game time for the Russian. A groin injury to Victor Anichebe gave Jack Rodwell a place in David Moyes’ starting XI, with Louis Saha given the nod ahead of Jermain Beckford up front. Saha’s goal just after the hour mark certainly vindicated Moyes’ decision to start him, and his opening goal was the Frenchman’s seventh in eight games against Ancelotti’s side.

Gerard Houllier rang the changes for Aston Villa’s home tie with Blackburn, with half his key personnel -Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Stilyan Petrov, James Collins and Richard Dunne- either benched or missing out altogether. Fantasy Owners of Marc Albrighton may have cause for concern, though, as the youngster was omitted for the second game in a row. Right-back Kyle Walker recovered from injury to return to the starting line-up for Villa.

Ciaran Clark scored the opener for the hosts and clearly has an eye for goal; the young defender has scored three goals in only thirteen league appearances this season. Robert Pires grabbed his first goal for Villa and Nathan Delfouneso made it three to send Blackburn spiralling out of the cup. A straight red card for left-back Nathan Baker means he will miss the next three matches for Houllier’s side, who have now won three games on the spin.

Blackburn took a strong side to Villa Park, but Roque Santa Cruz lasted just ten minutes before succumbing to a hamstring injury, though Steve Kean said after the match that he’s optimistic the injury isn’t too serious. Nikola Kalinic, on as a replacement, wasted little time in making his mark, grabbing the equaliser just eight minutes after taking the field. Despite playing against ten men for nigh on half an hour, Kean’s men couldn’t take advantage and can now concentrate on the league for the remainder of the season.

After his side’s midweek Carling Cup exploits, Alex McLeish made wholesale changes for Birmingham’s game with Coventry. Nikola Zigic and Kevin Phillips led the line for Big Eck’s team, with the likes of Ben Foster and Craig Gardner getting a well-earned rest. McLeish chose to play David Bentley on the left, and by all accounts the on-loan man had a impressive game, grabbing a goal his performance deserved. Birmingham went two down but fought back to score three goals for the second home game in a row. Phillips’ winner showed he’s lost none of his eye for goal, despite a distinct lack of first team minutes this term.

In a Bolton debut that delighted Owen Coyle, David Wheater partnered Zat Knight in central defence for the top-flight showdown with Wigan. Gary Cahill sat on the bench, which led to suggestions that he could be heading out of the Reebok before the transfer window closes on Monday night. Otherwise, Coyle named pretty much a full-strength side, as Bolton (without a win in their last 5 league games) went looking for a morale-boosting win. A bore goalless draw, however, means they have failed to score in their last three games and the Trotters will now travel to the DW Stadium for the replay on Wednesday February 16.

Wigan, still without the inspirational Antolin Alcaraz in defence and devoid of Ali Al-Habsi due to the loan deal with his parent club, managed, nevertheless, to keep a clean sheet at Bolton. Roberto Martinez made eight changes to the side that lost at home midweek to Aston Villa and -with both Charles N’Zogbia and Hugo Rodallega not even making the bench- a spirited performance earned the visitors the above-mentioned replay.

Man United almost came undone at Southampton but showed a resilience that pretty much sums up their season so far. Sir Alex Ferguson played a second-string back-four and goalkeeper and fielded Michael Owen with Javier Hernandez up front, and, similar to their midweek game at Blackpool, United were poor in the first period.

Fergie held his hands up after the game and admitted his tactics -playing a diamond in midfield to match Southampton’s shape- were one of the reasons his side struggled. Darron Gibson started in midfield but once again was replaced early in the second half, with Ryan Giggs and Nani coming on to help win the game. Both Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney had the day off, watching on from the bench as Owen and Hernandez grabbed a goal apiece to break Saints hearts.