Firstly, Stephen Bywater walked off the pitch in the 13th minute suffering from a back injury and was replaced by Saul Deeney who was making his first-team debut.
It was not a happy start for Deeney, who was dismissed four minutes before the interval after bringing down Jay Tabb when the Reading midfielder was clear through on goal.
Savage went in goal to face the penalty, only to see Reading's Republic of Ireland international striker Shane Long blaze the kick high over the Derby bar.
Reading had got off to a bright start and it was no surprise when they made an early breakthrough. Winger Jimmy Kebe and Long exchanged passes before the latter outpaced Shaun Barker to fire a low shot past Bywater. It was his seventh goal in six games since returning from suspension.
But there was a shock for the Royals when Derby's Gilles Sunu took advantage of a lucky bounce to hammer in an equaliser, his first goal of the season.
Deeney made a good save from Gylfi Sigurdsson's free-kick, but he had no chance with Reading's second in the 34th minute.
Derby failed to cut out a pass from Tabb leaving Kebe free to race forward unchallenged and shoot low past the keeper. It was Kebe's sixth goal in seven games.
Savage raised cheers from the near-700 Derby supporters in the crowd early in the second half when he saved at Long's feet and then managed to cut out a right-wing cross from Kebe.
His next action was to make a stunning save when he tipped a Sigurdsson free-kick over the bar and then he palmed away the resulting Ryan Bertrand corner.
Savage's resistance was eventually broken in the 69th minute when Reading full-back Ryan Bertrand hammered in Reading's third and his first goal for the Royals.
Six minutes from time substitute Simon Church added Reading's fourth.