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Women’s Championship sides Lewes and Birmingham joined six Women’s Super League clubs in the FA Cup quarter-finals after a day of drama on Sunday.
WSL top three Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City all claimed convincing wins but Reading and Aston Villa needed penalties to progress.
The Royals edged through their shootout 5-4 after a goalless draw at Tottenham.
Villa won another all-WSL tie, triumphing 7-6 on spot kicks after a last-gasp West Ham goal in normal time.
Ellie Mason scored four times for Lewes as the Rooks, who are mid-table in the second tier, reached the final eight for the first time in their history with a 6-1 thrashing of fourth-tier Cardiff, whose six-game run to the quarter-finals began in the third round of qualifying.
WSL joint-top scorer Khadija Shaw matched Mason’s tally for the afternoon as visitors City hammered Championship promotion contenders Bristol City 8-1.
The striker Shaw is hoping to succeed as the Golden Boot winner, Chelsea’s Sam Kerr, scored a clinical goal on her 100th appearance for the holders to seal a 2-0 victory over Arsenal at Kingsmeadow in the first of two cup finals in eight days between the London rivals.
The Blues and the Gunners will meet again in the League Cup final, which will be shown live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 14.25 GMT on 5 March.
United avenged their shock League Cup group stage defeat by Durham in October by beating the visitors 5-0 in the first game of the day, while Brighton knocked out Coventry United by the same scoreline to win at home in normal time for the first time since September and give new manager Jens Scheuer his first victory at Broadfield Stadium.
On-loan Liverpool midfielder Ashley Hodson scored the only goal of the game in the 101st minute to separate two teams level on points in the Championship as Birmingham also progressed at Charlton.
The quarter-finals will take place on 19 March 2023.
