AEK and Panathinaikos were the big winners in the Greek Cup, winning 5-1 and 5-0 against Panthrakikos and Kozani respectively.
But there were some nasty surprises for Super League sides, namely Aris who were knocked out by Trikala and Xanthi who lost to Ethnikos Asteras.
Olympiakos had its match against Ilioupoli postponed due to heavy rainfall.
Injury-ridden AEK thrashed Panthrakikos 5-1 at Komotini, although they had fallen behind to a Yiannis Simosis penalty.
Ismael Blanco gave new coach Manolo Jimenez some selection headaches, putting his hand up for the starting line-up this weekend at Panionios after he scored a hat-trick.
Blanco turned provider as he unselfishly laid off a ball for Nikos Karambelas while Leonardo was the beneficiary of excellent work on the left from Raffik Djebbour.
Holders Panathinaikos will go into Saturday’s derby against Olympiakos with confidence after they smashed third-division Kozani 5-0.
Djibril Cisse, Sidney Govou, Josu Sarriegi and a brace by Lazaros Christodoulopoulos gave the greens a much needed win after their recent run of form included a derby loss to AEK at the weekend.
Europa League contenders Aris may have already disposed of Europe champs Atletico Madrid this season in Europe, but they were the big scalp to a smaller team on Wednesday.
Last season’s cup finalists went out to Kozani local second-division side who beat them in a penalty shoot-out.
Aris took a 7th minute lead through Ronaldo Guiaro, but the match was interrupted for about five minutes as some Aris fans stormed the pitch to try and attack the home fans.
Christos Mingas took advantage of the disrupted concentration, equalising for Kozani.
Michel Garbini Pereira was dismissed in the 87th minute.
With the 90 minutes ending at a 1-1 score, and extra time unable to separate the sides the match went into a penalty shoot-out.
Trikala won 4-2 as Mehdi Nafti missed and Guiaro’s shot was saved by goalkeeper Christos Pouris.
Second-division Rhodes side Diagoras sank visiting Panionios 3-1 with goals from Bartosz Tarachulski, Giorgos Salamastrakis and Jose Luis Reyes.
Panionios, who had led through Sito Riera, are now in search of a new manager and face AEK on Sunday.
Ergotelis lost 1-0 to second division leaders PAS Yiannina away due to a goal by prolific striker Ibrahima Bakayoko. They also lost Sergio Leal, who got sent off in injury time.
Xanthi crashed out to another Football League side, Ethnikos Asteras. The 120 minutes ended goalless at Kaisariani and Ethnikos Asteras won 4-2 on penalties on Tuesday.
Olympiakos’s match against Ilioupoli was postponed due to the pitch at Egaleo being water-logged on Wednesday evening.
PAOK scraped through on Thursday as they grabbed the winner over third-division Eordaikos (1-0) on the last minute of extra time through Giorgos Fotakis.
In the other ties, all of them with Super League sides visiting lower-division teams, Atromitos beat Anagennis Giannitson 3-1, Asteras Tripolis downed Pierikos by the same score, Olympiakos Volou escaped from Iraklio with a 1-0 win in extra time over OFI, Larissa defeated Ethnikos 1-0, Iraklis overcame Panetolikos 2-0, Kerkyra beat Veria 1-0, Kavala eliminated Panachaiki 2-0 and Panserraikos needed extra time to oust third-division Aetos Skydras with a 2-0 score.
The draw for the fourth round will take place on Monday afternoon.