QPR survived a late fight-back by 10-man Norwich to give Ian Holloway a winning start in his second spell in charge at Loftus Road.
First-half goals from Conor Washington and Sebastian Polter gave Rangers a commanding lead after the dismissal of Martin Olsson inside a minute.
But Steve Naismith’s goal with 13 minutes left caused the odd home fan’s heart to miss a beat before the points were confirmed.
From the off, Nedum Onuoha attempted to force home a cross from the left and the only way Canaries kept the ball out was by Olsson handling on the line.
The defender was dismissed by referee Scott Duncan but made sure he delayed the kick by taking an eternity to leave the pitch.
The hold-up seemed to unsettle penalty taker Tjaronn Chery who fired wide of the John Ruddy’s left-hand post.
It took Rangers a while to make the most of the extra man, but with 21 minutes played Chery’s corner found Polter and when he headed back towards the near post Washington was there to stab home from close range.
Washington almost returned the compliment four minutes later with a great cross on the run for Polter whose header was goal-bound before it hit Russell Martin and went behind.
The German was not to be denied though and in the next attack he latched onto Chery’s astute pass to race clear and slide his shot through the legs of Ruddy.
Graham Dorrans had Norwich’s best chance with a shot deflected wide, but the visiting midfielder was lucky to escape with a yellow in first half stoppage time after a reckless late tackle on Joel Lynch.
Sandro entered the fray from the bench at the start of the second half with Lynch moving to left-back in the reshuffle and the former Huddersfield man soon saw a long-range strike deflected behind.
Ruddy kept out a Washington shot and a Grant Hall header as Rangers searched for a third, but at the other end another Dorrans’ long-ranger cannoned to safety.
Jacob Murphy was the closest yet for the men from East Anglia with a drive against the bar with Smithies beaten.
And Holloway’s side were forced to hang on after Steven Naismith headed in substitute Cameron Jerome’s cross from close range.
