EFL Cup holders Manchester City coasted into Round 4 of the competition on Tuesday, as they beat Preston North End 3-0 on the road, while Tottenham Hotspur crashed out at Colchester United.

Spurs were held to a 0-0 draw in normal time by the fourth-tier outfit, meaning there was a penalty shootout at the Colchester Community Stadium. Christian Eriksen and Lucas Moura missed for the visitors, allowing Tom Lapslie to send his team into the next round in dramatic fashion.

At the Emirates Stadium there were no concerns for Arsenal, as they hammered Nottingham Forest 5-0. There was also a 4-0 triumph for Southampton in a much-anticipated derby showdown with Portsmouth at Fratton Park. 

Here are the results from Tuesday's fixtures and recap of some of the highlights from an intriguing evening of League Cup action.

Round 3, Tuesday Fixtures

Arsenal 5-0 Nottingham Forest

*Colchester United 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur (*won 4-3 on penalties)

*Crawley Town 1-1 Stoke City (*won 5-4 on penalties)

Luton Town 0-4 Leicester City

Portsmouth 0-4 Southampton

Preston North End 0-3 Manchester City

Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Everton

Watford 2-1 Swansea City

Recap

Despite their grand ambitions in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, City manager Pep Guardiola takes the EFL Cup seriously, winning the competition for the last two campaigns.

At Preston, there were no signs of complacency from his side, as they stormed into a huge lead. Goals from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus put City 2-0 in front at the interval, before Ryan Ledson turned the ball into his own net on the stroke of half time to make the game safe for the visitors.

Squawka Football summed up how prolific they've been so far this season:

The biggest shock of the evening was the elimination of Tottenham, as they were dumped out by League Two Colchester.

Spurs lacked invention throughout the 90 minutes, giving their lower-league opponents the chance to pull off a huge shock. In the end, it was the Colchester players who better kept their cool and pulled off a huge upset.

Dan Kilpatrick of the Evening Standard commented on another chance of a trophy lost for Tottenham:

There were no such issues for Tottenham's local rivals Arsenal, as they cruised to a five-goal win over Nottingham Forest. Gabriel Martinelli shone for the Gunners up top, as he grabbed his first two goals for the club; Rob Holding, Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson were also on the scoresheet.

Arsenal reporter Layth Yousif commented on a rounded performance from the team:

Elsewhere, the fixture with the liveliest atmosphere came on the south coast, as Portsmouth and Southampton locked horns for the first time in seven years.

Danny Ings was the hero for the visitors, as his two first-half goals laid the foundations for a comfortable win for the Premier League outfit:

Meanwhile, Dominic Calvert-Lewin's brace for Everton eased some of the pressure on manager Marco Silva, as they were 2-0 winners away at Sheffield United.

Leicester also made it through, as they dealt with a potentially challenging trip to Luton Town with ease. Demarai Gray, James Justin, Youri Tielemans and Kelechi Iheanacho were on the scoresheet.