Dom Howson's big match breakdown: How Sheffield Wednesday fared against Rotherham United

Lucas Joao bagged a brace but Wednesdayites booed the team off at half-time and at full-time after another disappointing performance.

The Star's Sheffield Wednesday writer identifies the key moments of the contest.

Key Moment: Michael Smith's goal 15 seconds into the second half. The highly-rated caught Wednesday's defence napping, racing on to Will Vaulks' superb ball over the top before firing into the bottom corner. The Owls' defence went to sleep and they paid the price. Rotherham visibly grew in confidence and the hosts retreated.

Key man: Lucas Joao was anonymous for the majority of the first half but he took his first goal brilliantly. He showed great strength to wriggle his way past Zak Vyner and coolly send a low shot beyond the reach of Marek Rodak.

His pace and movement repeatedly troubled Rotherham's defence and he produced a deft header after the break from Adam Reach's cross from the left to rescue a point for Luhukay's men.

How the game was drawn: Wednesday were second best in the first half and lucky to go in ahead.

They conceded a shoddy goal just after the restart and a goalkeeping howler from Cameron Dawson put Rotherham in the ascendancy.

To their credit, the Owls refused to give up and displayed some character and fight to claim a share of the spoils.

Referee watch: Darren Bond's decision-making was superb. Rightly dished out a yellow card to Barry Bannan for a late challenge on Will Vaulks. Bannan will miss the Owls' next two fixtures with Swansea City and Preston North End after collecting his 10th caution of the campaign.

Summary: A better side than Rotherham would have put Wednesday to the sword in the first half. The Owls looked bereft of confidence and quality and scored completely against the run of play through Joao.

Wednesday's brittle defence let them down again after the break and prompted supporters to repeatedly chant for Luhukay to be sacked. Joao grabbed another goal and Atdhe Nuhiu came close to snatching the win in the closing stages but that would have been harsh on Rotherham.

The result leaves Wednesday in 17th position, having registered just one victory from nine outings. They looked, for long periods, like relegation material. It promises to be a long winter.