This was followed by second-half goals from Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Theo Walcott as the match ended 4–4 after regulation time.

Arsenal lined up in a 4–5–1/4–2–3–1 formation, with Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin shifting between winging midfield and attack to support lone striker Marouane Chamakh.

[3] Pre-match, Arsenal stood 6th in Premier League, some six points off the top; in contrast Reading were 18th and one of two winless sides.

Arsenal had started the Premier League season well, not losing until the sixth match and not conceding until the fourth, a 6–1 home win over Southampton; however defeats to Chelsea and Norwich City had pushed them down the table.

[9] However, a pair of 3-2 wins-first at home to Peterborough United and then at Queens Park Rangers in the League Cup had set up the tie with Arsenal, who had thrashed Coventry City 6–1 at the Emirates Stadium in the third round.

[8] The two sides had first met on 16 February 1935, in the FA Cup fifth round, where a solitary goal from Cliff Bastin handed the visiting Gunners a 2–0 victory.

Arsenal responded to this with a narrow victory against Wigan Athletic at the Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta scoring a late winner.

Reading boss Brian McDermott, having won the League Managers Association Championship Manager of the Year the previous campaign, had insisted that his players deserved a lot of credit after their 90th-minute equaliser at home to Fulham, but conceded that they needed to "finish the job off", with his team having taken the lead four times in the Premier League that season and still not won.

[12] McDermott had named a near full-strength team in the 3-2 third round win at QPR, but still made six changes to the side that drew 3–3 with Fulham in the Premier League, including swapping goalkeeper Alex McCarthy with Adam Federici.

Arsenal meanwhile made eleven changes as Arsène Wenger rested numerous first-team players following their hard-fought home win over QPR; a 4-5-1 formation was favoured by the Frenchman, with Andrey Arshavin and Theo Walcott to shift from midfield in support of Marouane Chamakh, with Johan Djourou captaining the side.

Andrey Arshavin gave the ball away and the home side quickly countered, with Jason Roberts firing in Hal Robson-Kanu`s cross to give Reading a "deserved" advantage.

Seizing the ball after a cleared corner, he struck a fierce effort which was punched into the Arsenal goal by Emiliano Martinez.

[16] Two minutes of added time were awarded; in the last of those, a neat through-ball from Andrey Arshavin found Walcott in acres of space, and the Englishman's dinked finish made it 4–1 at half-time.

[15] Half-time was drawing near when neat play on the left-hand side saw Arshavin lay the ball off to Chamakh, who scored his first goal in over a year to make it 5–4 to Arsenal.

However, it was Arsenal who grabbed the crucial sixth goal after Arshavin-released down the left-saw his run and driving shot blocked by Federici before Walcott slammed it in to make it 6–5.

After a final Reading attack, Walcott cleared the ball away only for Gunter to miss his header and give Chamakh a one-on-one with Federici, and his calm lobbed finish saw Arsenal make it 7–5.

[17][3][18] It is also thought to be one of the finest comebacks in football history; it was the first time Arsenal had ever come back from a 3+ goal deficit to win.

"[19] The result did not, as hoped, have an immediate effect on what had been an inconsistent start to the season for Arsenal; in the next match, they were defeated by eventual Premier League champions Manchester United 2–1 at Old Trafford.

[8][20] However, their League Cup campaign ended with a bitterly disappointing 3-2 penalty shootout defeat to fourth-division Bradford City in the next round.

[21] Reading meanwhile continued their poor form, not winning a league game until November and just two before New Years, and just four more afterwards as they ultimately finished 19th, some 11 points off of safety.