STEVEN GERRARD rescued Liverpool once again after Reading threatened FA Cup misery for under-fire Kop boss Rafa Benitez.
Skipper Gerrard's cross-shot earned the Reds a third-round replay after Simon Church punished their nervy first-half hour.
And, judging by the way manager-less Reading belied their Championship struggles, Benitez faces an anxious 90 minutes in the Anfield re-match.
Royals' man-of-the-match Jobi McAnuff said: "Before the game we would have probably taken the draw and the chance to go there and get a result.
"It's a great place to play football, we'll really enjoy it and hopefully get another chance to go and express ourselves and get a result again."
Fernando Torres, though, nearly squeezed a stoppage-time winner in a tight third-round tie.
But, with McAnuff outstanding in midfield, Reading deserved their draw.
Liverpool's season has seen them knocked out of the Champions League and also struggle to keep pace with others teams in the hunt for a top-four place in the Premier League, so the cup has been seen as one of their only genuine chances of success.
With that in mind, Benitez picked a strong team, including Gerrard and Torres.
But they started poorly, not helped by the tricky conditions at Reading's ground, a venue that also hosts rugby games for London Irish.
The hosts had the ball in the net when Jobi McAnuff met Pepe Reina's punch but the header was correctly ruled out as Grzegorz Rasiak was offside and also impeded the Liverpool goalkeeper to allow the finish to trickle over the line.
Referee Martin Atkinson rejected Reading appeals for a penalty when Martin Skrtel tugged slightly on Gylfi Sigurdsson's shirt as he turned in the corner of the area.
But Emiliano Insua finally went in the book when he fouled McAnuff on the right flank - a foul that proved costly.
Ryan Bertrand swung over the deep free-kick to the far post, with most Liverpool players expecting the ball to drift out of play. They failed to consider Rasiak darting around Lucas Leiva and volleying the ball back from the left byline. Church could scarcely miss at the near post - and, via a shin, he did not.
Liverpool looked to Torres to get them back in the game, the Spain striker heading just wide when Dirk Kuyt crossed from the right channel.
It was their other talisman, Gerrard, who grabbed the equaliser. The midfielder picked the ball up 25 yards from goal and shaped to cross, with Kuyt stepping over the delivery to fool Federici.
Gerrard sent Torres through before the break and Federici spread himself well to block the finish, and Aurelio also drilled wide when sent through.
Reading's disgruntled fans spotted their former manager on his duties as a pundit and chanted "we want our Coppell back", as they hope for a return to the days of success.
The club have been in freefall since relegation from the top flight two seasons ago and the likes of Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt have been sold - but at least the current players were not giving up. Sigurdsson unleashed a swerving shot that required a decent Reina save.
Torres had threatened just after the break when he went just over the crossbar from the edge of the area.
Federici appeared to pull a hamstring midway through the second half, so Ben Hamer came off the bench and saved on the line from Alberto Aquilani before the end.
Then Torres headed just over at the death.
