Reading went behind on three occasions as they fell to a late Sam Surridge winner to open their 2021/22 Championship season with defeat at Stoke City.
In a first-half that had a frantic spell with three goals in the space of four minutes as Nick Powell and Jacob Brown scored either side of a John Swift goal.
Moore levelled on the hour mark but substitute Surridge found a third Stoke goal in the 85th minute to gift the hosts all three points.
Reading started their season with a threadbare squad as manager Veljko Paunović named just five substitutes out of an available seven, with Ovie Ejaria out injured and Yakou Méïté facing a long spell on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, the boss handed out two full Championship debuts to two academy graduates as Ethan Bristow started at left-back and Femi Azeez started in attack.
The match started with Stoke on the attack as Michael Morrison made an important block on Nick Powell before the Royals burst up the other end and John Swift won a free-kick.
Swift opted to shoot despite the long distance and won the first corner of the match after his shot was deflected off the top of the Stoke wall.
Experienced defender Morrison was again well placed in the penalty area to get his head on a cross and make a commanding clearance.
Andy Rinomhota then had Reading’s first attempt on target as he forced a full-stretch save from Joe Bursik.
There were more injury concerns for the Royals, with an already flimsy squad, as Lucas João signalled to the bench that he was suffering from shoulder pain, but he managed to see out the rest of the half.
The best half of so far came in the 20th minute when Morgan Fox was allowed a free header in the box from the Potters’ first corner of the match but he headed into the side netting.
Royals skipper Liam Moore picked up the first caution of the game and Stoke capitalised as they opened the scoring from the resulting free-kick.
Tommy Smith sent in a superb delivery behind the Reading defence and Powell latched onto the set-piece and finished from close range past Rafael Cabral.
However, the Royals conjured up an instant response and had an equaliser within a minute.
A sloppy piece of play at the back from the hosts saw Swift latch on to a loose pass and he punished Stoke as he dispatched the ball into an empty net to score Reading’s first goal of the new season.
But Stoke were back in front in the 28th minute to complete a frantic few minutes at the Bet 365 Stadium. Jacob Brown hit a low drive that managed to beat Rafael after taking a slight deflection off Moore.
Reading had chances to equalise again before the break after Moore flicked a header off target after some good work from young forward Femi Azeez to win a corner.
João then tried an optimistic effort on the half volley from 35 yards but didn’t trouble the keeper as the half came to a close.
Michael O’Neill’s team continued to look dangerous from set-pieces and created another chance early in the second half but Danny Batth missed after being given freedom in the box to head towards goal.
Again Stoke had another sight of goal from a corner but Rafael managed to clutch onto Fox’s volley.
Reading began to pile the pressure on the hosts again and were rewarded with an equaliser for the second time in the contest, on the hour mark.
Reading’s captain, Moore, stormed into the box and rose highest to meet Swift’s corner and power a header into the top corner past the keeper in front of the travelling Royals fans.
Looking to take the points in the final 15 minutes, Paunovic brought on Romanian forward George Pușcaș to replace João and Dejan Tetek for Swift.
But with just five minutes to go, Stoke stole the points as Sam Surridge latched on to the ball and swept the ball past Rafael.
Defender Tom Holmes was thrown on as a makeshift striker as the lack of depth in the Reading squad began to tell near the end of the match.
The full-time whistle came after seven minutes of added time as the Royals were condemned to an opening day defeat and Stoke ended a run of 11 games without a win on the opening game of the season.
Stoke City: Bursik, Wilmot, Batth, Fox, Smith, Allen (c), Vrancic, Powell, Tymon, Brown, Fletcher
Subs: Davies, Clucas, Doughty, Thompson, Surridge, Ince, Souttar
Reading: Rafael, Yiadom, Morrison, Moore (c), Bristow, Rinomhota, Laurent, Swift, Azeez, João
Subs: Southwood, Holmes, Tetek, Camara, Pușcaș
Goals: Powell 25′, Swift 26′, Brown 28′, Moore 60′, Surridge 85′
