Massimo Luongo's red card, a defensive horror-show and more Hillsborough woes - Four talking points after Sheffield Wednesday 0 Blackburn Rovers 5

Owls midfielder Massimo Luongo was given his marching orders in the first half as Rovers established a three-goal lead.

Darragh Lenihan and Sam Gallagher added further gloss to the scoreline with goals after the break.

Wednesday writer Dom Howson picks out four talking points after a grim afternoon.

Luongo's dismissal

It was a key moment shortly after Lewis Holtby had fired Blackburn in front. The Australian international picked up the first red card of his career after a mistimed tackle on Lewis Travis. Luongo caught Travis late but the red was incredibly harsh. It was at most a yellow card offence.

"It’s not a sending off at all," bemoaned Monk.

Rovers manager Tony Mowbray claimed he did not see the contentious decision. If he had, I'm sure he would have acknowledged the call went his team's way.

Defensive horror-show

Fair play to Monk for not hiding behind the red card and apologising for their abject performance. Wednesday were way off the pace before Luongo's sending off.

"I take full responsibility for it," said Monk. "It is a horrible day for us an our fans.

"It is my job to work through all the ups and downs and puts us on a course."

His Owls side were outworked, outfought and outplayed.

Their defending was nothing short of abysmal, the midfield was non-existent and they sorely missed top-scorer Steven Fletcher in attack.

Home form

After a nine-match unbeaten run in their own backyard, Wednesday have now lost three on the spin at Hillsborough.

Crowds are down and their recent performances against Cardiff City, Hull City and Blackburn has left a lot to be desired.

Their first half showing against Rovers lacked passion, desire and discipline and gives Monk plenty to ponder ahead of the trip to Queens Park Rangers.

New players

Monk is determined to bring in attacking reinforcements on loan during the January transfer window and this sorry, inexplicable performance underlined how important Fletcher is to the side.