Sydney entered the match seeking to retain a six point gap between themselves and first placed Perth Glory, heading into a nailbiting remaining five fixtures.

But ultimately, the West will be cheering more vociferously than any others (bar a few keen-eyes Tottenham Hotspur fans). City's 2-0 win extends the gap to nine, all but sealing Perth's debut Premiership.

"I don't know how it happened to be fair," a brunt Alex Wilkinson explained.

"I thought we were in control and didn't create too much, neither team did and coming out in the second half we were confident.

"Then we conceded a sloppy goal in transition, I'm not sure how it happened, it's just disappointing for us, it was a huge opportunity to keep pressure on.

"We're struggling with the final ball at the moment, it will come but the strikers want to bang goals in. Five or six games left, if Perth win a couple more games it's done.

"But we've got to play Perth again so we'll see what happens."

At times it's easy to see why the City Football Group back Warren Joyce despite regular player and fan disputes and a lack of trophies.

The style that City play - derided as it's been by segments of the football community - is arguably the most controlled and tactically astute in the league.

Their passing is slick, entertaining to watch and the off the ball movement of the likes of Kearyn Baccus and Luke Brattan is among the league's most intelligent. 

The issues have been either side of that dynamic midfield block, both in creating opportunities and finishing them.

Their defensive issues are slightly harder to pinpoint - they concede goals on the break, as do all possession-based teams - but there is a general lack of cohesion about the side at times that mean some of the league's best defenders routinely ship cheap goals.

But when it comes off, as it did in spades against Sydney, their mixture of style, substance and skill can beat anyone in the league. Harrison's perfectly struck but off-target volley a fitting example.

"It looks like it's going on target for me so of course I'm going to claim it," Harrison said.

"It was a very good result, it's important that we came here and got the result after the past few weeks.

"The lads have played a big part in welcoming me and helping me settle in."