Skipper for the night Robbie Fowler had put the Reds 1-0 up on 44 minutes when he raced onto a Jermaine Pennant through ball and cleverly lobbed goalkeeper Graham Stack. It was a typical Robbie Fowler goal and one that saw him overtake Kenny Dalglish in the list of Liverpool's top scorers in the League Cup.
Less than sixty seconds later it was 2-0. John Arne Riise came charging into the box and fired in a shot that Stack was barely able to parry. Unfortunately for the Reading keeper the ball went straight back to Riise who made no mistake who doubled the Reds' lead just before half time.
When Paletta capped his first competitive Liverpool appearance with a goal from a corner five minutes into the second half the game seemed all over. Not a chance.
Reading pulled a goal back on 75 minutes but that seemed irrelevant two minutes later when Peter Crouch ran onto a great pass from Fowler and made it 4-1.
With a three goal advantage and only 13 minutes remaining Liverpool eased off. It was nearly a fatal mistake as Reading made it 4-2 in the 80th minute and 4-3 five minutes later. It was a nervy end to what had been a comfortable game but the Reds held on for what was ultimately a deserved win.