Jack Clisby came back to haunt his former A-League Men side and Tate Russell scored an emotional goal as Western Sydney beat Perth Glory 2-0 at CommBank Stadium.
Clisby, who crossed from Perth to Western Sydney during the off-season, opened the scoring in Saturday night's match with a 50th-minute bullet from a tight angle.
Russell doubled the lead seven minutes later when he chested down a high ball before rifling in a volley that was so powerful it even knocked down a teammate who was standing behind the goal line.
The goal was a special moment for Russell, who had spent more than 500 days on the sidelines with a knee injury before returning for round one this season.
"Coming back from a long time out, you never really know what to expect," Russell told Paramount after the match.
"To come on and score for the first time since I've been back is such an unreal feeling."
The result extended Western Sydney's unbeaten start to the season to four games, while Glory have just four points from the first four rounds.
"We created more than them in the first half, we should have had the lead by a couple at half time," Glory coach Alen Stajcic said.
"But a couple of soft defensive (errors) which were really poor (cost us). We let ourselves come undone in those moments.
"But other than that, I thought we showed good intent away from home.
"Overall I thought it was an excellent performance, but it counts for nothing when you get zero points."
Perth were dealt a huge pre-game blow when star striker Adam Taggart was ruled out through injury.
And their task got even harder when Bruce Kamau limped off after 13 minutes with a hamstring complaint.
Veteran Glory striker David Williams unleashed a curling shot from outside the box that crashed into the upright in the 30th minute.
Seconds later, Wanderers forward Marcus Antonsson also hit the woodwork from long range.
Glory had been vulnerable to Western Sydney's wing backs in the first half, and the tale continued after the break when Clisby ran onto Josh Brillante's lofted pass and volleyed the ball in from a tight angle.
There was initial confusion about the Wanderers' second goal after Russell's thunderous volley cannoned into the chest of teammate Brandon Borrello before rebounding back into play.
Replays showed the ball had already crossed the goal line when Borrello was struck, much to the relief of the home crowd.
The only concern to come out of the match for Western Sydney was a late injury to Clisby, who limped off the pitch after twisting his left ankle.
