For the first time in the club's history, they won in the opening round. In a rare moment for the Wanderers, their new centre-forward signing was clinical in his league debut. All five foreign players showed more than just potential while most pleasingly for their home fans, the Wanderers were truly entertaining as they clinched an impressive 2-1 win over Perth Glory at Spotless Stadium.

The mantra from the club this week was right about one thing; the shockwave of Popovic's departure would leave barely a ripple on the Wanderers' performance. Interim coach Hayden Foxe promised as much while declaring he wants the top job permanently and his first audition could not have been much better.

"I thought we were outstanding. We were playing with so much energy and fluency. It was a real Wanderers performance," Foxe said. "We showed a real resilience as a team, really hard to beat from front to back as a whole. That's been a real feature from pre-season."

They were organised, fluid in possession and at times scintillating in the final third. That much was lead by marquees Oriol Riera and Alvaro Cejudo, the latter receiving a standing ovation. It had been nearly three-and-a-half years since the pair last played alongside one another but their reunion seemed as if that partnership had never been broken. They had to travel to the opposite corner of the world to be together once more but the tyranny of distance hadn't take its toll. In the first minute against Perth Glory, Riera had a great chance to claim an early lead from a Cejudo pass.

By the 43rd, that combination bore fruit. Cejudo broke through the middle, shaped as if to strike from the edge of the box before deceiving Perth's defence with a no-look slide pass that instinctively found the run of his compatriot. From there, Riera did the rest, timing his run to perfection to stay onside before calmly slotting past Liam Reddy to break the deadlock two minutes before the break.

Before the whistle called the first half to a halt, the Wanderers tightened their grip on the contest with a textbook counter-attack. After tackling Diego Castro inside Perth's box, Kearyn Baccus found Riera in the middle of the park before fullback Brendan Hamill was played into space down the right flank. Jumpei Kusukami was then played into the box and the Japanese winger's lunging shot beat Reddy to make it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time.

It could nearly have been three minutes after the restart when a chip pass from Chris Herd played Riera through on goal, but his lobbed shot from close range was fired over the bar. Their inaugural coach was not their on the sidelines but the Wanderers showed no signs of disruption. They were composed, classy and confident as they dictated tempo and pulled the strings in what was becoming a one-sided affair.

Even when Perth did carve open a strong chance, it counted for little as Adam Taggart's close-range header midway through the second-half was comfortably saved by Vedran Janjetovic. Fortune eventually fell the way of the visitors when a deflection gave Castro a close-range finish, but a superb reflex save from Janjetovic and then the post thwarted a goal. Janjetovic was at his best to make a late double save from Taggart and Castro against the run of play in the 70th minute.

The Glory eventually found a lifeline when Andy Keogh's free header inside the box was deflected into the net by Hamill, clawing the score back to 2-1.

It proved a mere consolation. Western Sydney would hang on for a win that would help them forget what appeared destined to be a week of anguish.