Cardiff City suffered their first defeat of the season as they were outplayed by QPR in a disappointing 2-1 loss at Loftus Road.
The Bluebirds were second best for long periods and were indebted to goalkeeper Nathan Trott for keeping the score down before Perry Ng's spectacular late strike gave them hope of an unlikely comeback.
Rumarn Burrell proved Cardiff's tormentor, scoring twice to put the hosts firmly in control.
Burrell breaks the deadlock
QPR had already threatened before breaking the deadlock in the 36th minute. A corner caused chaos in the Cardiff box, with a deflection falling kindly for Burrell, who smashed the loose ball home.
Cardiff had enjoyed some promising moments before that, with Jack Moylan and Ollie Tanner providing attacking threat from the flanks.
Their best opportunity came in the 28th minute when Tanner delivered an excellent cross to the back post and Cian Ashford, completely unmarked six yards out, headed wide. It was a costly miss.
QPR continued to look dangerous and should have doubled their advantage before half-time, but Cardiff went into the interval just one goal behind.
Second-half changes fail to stem the tide
Brian Barry-Murphy made two changes at the break, sending on Krystian Bielik and Chris Willock for Cian Ashford and Calum Scanlon.
It did little to stem the tide. If anything, it had the opposite effect.
QPR doubled their lead in the 53rd minute after a Cardiff attack broke down. Ronnie Edwards won possession off Rubin Colwill and sent Burrell racing through, with the striker outpacing Bielik before curling a fine finish beyond Trott.
The hosts almost added a third moments later. Trott made an excellent save from Alfie Lloyd, but the rebound fell to Koki Saito, who somehow sliced his effort wide.
Burrell then missed another opportunity to complete his hat-trick after Robertson lost possession cheaply in midfield.
Ng's screamer proves a consolation
Cardiff were struggling to create anything of note, but they were handed a lifeline with 15 minutes remaining.
Tanner rolled the ball to Ng 25 yards from goal and the Cardiff captain shifted onto his left foot before unleashing a superb strike into the top corner.
Suddenly, the Bluebirds had hope.
But despite a late push, Cardiff could not find an equaliser. The 2-1 scoreline actually flattered them.
Harvey Vale wasted a good chance for QPR when he fired over from close range, while Joel Colwill also failed to test goalkeeper Pierce Charles after being found at the back post.
Cardiff's unbeaten start is therefore over, with this a worrying performance that Barry-Murphy's side will want to quickly put behind them.
