Reading ended resurgent Plymouth’s three-match League One winning run with a 4-1 result at Home Park.
Skipper Lewis Wing scored twice in five first-half minutes as the Royals rushed into a 3-0 lead.
Wing opened the scoring from a 13th-minute penalty after Joe Ralls was red-carded for a foul on Reading defender Derrick Williams as Argyle failed to clear a corner.
Five minutes later, Wing wrestled the ball off Bali Mumba on the edge of box before hammering in past the diving Conor Hazard.
Jack Marriott then won a header to tee up Kamari Doyle, who first-timed home from 15 yards past the diving Hazard to make it 3-0 within 20 minutes.
Argyle substitute Xavier Amaechi pulled one back with a thumping 20-yard strike into the top cornerin the 68th minute after being teed up by Malachi Boateng.
Argyle top scorer Lorent Tolaj’s 73rd-minute penalty was then saved by Joel Pereira after a foul on Mumba by substitute Kelvin Abrefa.
And Reading completed the rout four minutes from time when Marriott latched on to a through ball from Wing before finishing with a clinical half volley.
