Camara teaches wasteful Wijnhard a lesson

Liverpool see off brave challenge of Huddersfield as Speed's strike earns Newcastle a replay

Pressed to define the precise difference between the top of the First Division and the upper reaches of the Premiership, Huddersfield would have little doubt after this Cup tie that it is largely a matter of taking your chances.

Pressed to define the precise difference between the top of the First Division and the upper reaches of the Premiership, Huddersfield would have little doubt after this Cup tie that it is largely a matter of taking your chances.

On top for much of the game and consistently inventive in their approach work, Town are now free to concentrate on trying to gain promotion to the top flight because they could not convert any of the opportunities they carved out.

The contrast with Liverpool was total. Not always convincing at the back and frequently outmanoeuvred in midfield, they managed even without Robbie Fowler and with Michael Owen still strangely muted, to score two spectacular goals to take them safely into the fourth round.

Titi Camara was heavily involved in both. The close-season signing from Marseilles, booed for much of the match by the home supporters after a theatrical dive in the penalty area, fed Dietmar Hamann to set up the first goal after 35 minutes of unrewarded pressure from Huddersfield. From Hamann's cross, Camara executed a perfect scissors kick and although Nico Vaesen got a hand to it, he had little hope of keeping it out of the net.

Camara struck again after 13 minutes of the second half after Huddersfield had made a nonsense of a promising free kick deep inside their opponents' territory. From the carelessly conceded possession, Camara raced away and picked out the substitute, Dominic Matteo, with a sweeping cross-field pass. With the defence in disarray, Matteo was able to close in on goal, set his sights and plant his shot low into the net.

In terms of everything but finishing, that scoreline painted a misleading picture, because if Huddersfield had taken a fraction of their chances the face of the game would have been radically different. Clyde Wijnhard is a regular scorer in the First Division, but he was transformed from the prolific to the profligate in this match.

The pattern was set early, when he latched on to a through ball, outpaced Sami Hyypia but allowed Sander Westerveld to save at his feet.

Huddersfield continued in that vein, making them and missing them, Wijnhard in particular, their constructive football showing why they have reached the summit of the First Division but their wayward shooting ruining their prospects. They were not quite as good at creating openings after the break, but equally adept at squandering them. The match statistics showed them having an even dozen shots on the Liverpool goal, more than most Premiership attacks have managed against a parsimonious defence.

"I was delighted with the way we played, apart from the finishing," the Huddersfield manager, Steve Bruce, said. "I think I knew after the first five or 10 minutes that it wasn't going to be our day. We got two really good openings and I'd have loved one of those to go in."

Goals: Camara (36) 0-1; Matteo (59) 0-2.

Huddersfield Town (4-4-2): Vaesen; Jenkins, Armstrong, Gray, Vincent; Gorré, Irons, Sellars, Thornley (Donis, 70); Wijnhard, Stewart (Schofield, 82). Substitutes not used: Margetson (gk), Dyson, Horne.

Liverpool (4-4-2): Westerveld, Gerrard (Newby, 87), Hyypia, Henchoz, Staunton (Matteo, 34); Smicer (Song, 70), Hamann, Carragher, Murphy, Camara, Owen. Substitutes not used: Meijer, Friedel (gk).

Referee: R Harris (Oxfordshire).

Booking: Huddersfield: Gray.

Man of the match: Camara.

Attendance: 23,678.