Nottingham Forest fans were furious that Owls goalkeeper Keiren Westwood was not sent off for conceding a penalty for this foul on Ben Brereton
Sheffield Wednesday resisted a spirited Nottingham Forest fightback to earn a fourth consecutive Championship win.
Forest spurned a great chance to lead when Ross McCormack's penalty was saved by goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.
Home fans were furious Westwood was not sent off for fouling Ben Brereton and the anger was compounded as the Owls took control through Almen Abdi's 25-yarder and Fernando Forestieri's shot.
Ben Osborn's shot gave hope but Forest could not avoid a third straight loss.
Wednesday's win sees them go level on points with Yorkshire rivals Leeds United and takes them seven points clear in the final play-off spot following Norwich City's defeat at Burton.
But Forest were with a strong sense of injustice after seeing their 100% home record come to an end under interim boss Gary Brazil.
A bright home start looked like being rewarded when the impressive Brereton ran on to McCormack's pass.
However, Westwood's foul was only deemed worthy of a yellow card and within two minutes Abdi's stunning long-range effort put the Owls ahead.
Forest, who slip to 18th, enjoyed some decent spells of possession after falling further behind early in the second half.
But although more good work by teenage striker Brereton teed up Osborn to bring hope, they could not fashion a telling opening in a cagey final 30 minutes.
Nottingham Forest interim boss Gary Brazil:
"The rules say that he [Westwood] should not be sent off now, so there is no point in moaning about it.
"But it is critical moments in games that decide whether you take three points, so it was tough for us. Not only to see us not score from the penalty - and we are not being critical of Ross, because he did not fail to score on purpose - but then to see them go down the other end of the pitch and score with a shot right into the 'postage stamp'.
"When that happens you can't help but feel a sense of injustice, just because of the timing of it all. And seeing the opposition score with another great finish like that is getting a bit repetitive, isn't it?
"I thought the second goal was soft however, because Forestieri had his back to goal and seeing him get the ball in the net from there was very disappointing.
"We should have guided him away from goal. We did manage to get a goal back and Ben Brereton was a threat throughout - we just could not find an equaliser."
Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal: "It was a difficult game, but we deserved the win.
"There were big moments in the game that were very important. One was when they missed the penalty and the other was when we scored a few minutes later.
"Even when Forest scored a goal, it was a mistake from us. We did not allow Forest to create too many chances, we were calm and the keeper did not have too many saves to make.
"I have said in the past that a good goalkeeper is not one who has to make 20 saves in a game - because our opponents do not create many chances against us.
"A good goalkeeper is one who makes saves when he has to; when the team needs him to. Kieren is a fantastic goalkeeper and when the team needs him, he is there."
