Rotherham United 2-2 Blackburn Rovers: Sammie Szmodics scores twice and misses penalty

Hakeem Odoffin's first-half strike was his sixth in 51 appearances for the Millers

Sammie Szmodics missed a penalty before scoring two goals as Blackburn Rovers fought back to salvage a point in a riveting draw against 10-man Rotherham United.

With Rotherham leading through Hakeem Odoffin's first-half strike, Fred Onyedinma scored with a diving header to double their lead and was then sent off in a bizarre three-minute spell after the break.

Rovers continued to dominate possession and their pressure finally told, with Szmodics the hero after his first-half penalty miss.

The midfielder made it 2-1 with a deflected strike following Adam Wharton's cute pass and then coolly converted a one-on-one chance by rounding Viktor Johansson to earn a draw for his side.

Szmodics was the key man throughout, but his afternoon started badly at the AESSEAL New York Stadium when he hit the inside of a post from the spot after Joe Rankin-Costello was fouled by Cameron Humphreys with the score at 0-0.

Things got worse for Szmodics when he was at fault for Rotherham's opener, gifting away possession to allow Odoffin to run through and fire in the opening goal from the edge of the box.

Onyedinma took centre stage after the interval. He scored with a fine diving header from Cafu's pinpoint set-piece, only to see red for a second yellow card two minutes after the first, meaning the hosts were forced to play the final 50 minutes a man down.

The first booking from referee Bobby Madley came for over-celebrating his goal and his second prompted a furious reaction from Rotherham manager Matt Taylor, who was also cautioned.

And the man advantage was telling as Rovers became increasingly threatening, finishing the match with 21 attempts on goal on their way to a point thanks to Szmodics.

Harry Pickering twice went close as Rovers pushed for a winner but they had to settle for remaining unbeaten after two league games, while Rotherham stay winless, having been trounced 4-1 by Stoke City last time out.

Rotherham manager Matt Taylor:

"The first yellow card [for Onyedinma] is my biggest frustration.

"We go 2-0 up, it's Fred's first goal and there is emotion. He gets pushed into the crowd by his team-mates celebrating. Football is going in a strange direction right now. I know they are trying to make it a better product, but I would argue that it isn't right now.

"I thought we went through every emotion known to man. We went from jubilation and then a few minutes later Fred gets sent off. At least we got something out of the game.

"I have not enjoyed the first two games of the season. I have seen a whole host of yellow cards for very little. We can go through every single moment of the game with frustration. We are gutted we did not take more from that game."

Blackburn head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson said:

"It was a bit of a rollercoaster but entertaining for the fans. I think the fans will be disappointed we didn't come away with three points.

"We did not do enough of the right things in the first half. If we score that penalty then it would be a different game.

"I was not happy with the first half. But I must give all my credit to the lads. They got a well-deserved first and second goal. I stopped counting the number of chances we created. Rotherham did really, really well and defended with great spirit. So credit to them.

"Sammie is a great lad. You know anyone can miss a penalty. You have people with different characters. Some who want to then come and sit on the bench, but he scored two goals."