On the other, there was the largely forgettable Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne Victory fixture, which ended 1-0 to the Vucks, as Robbie Fowler continues to search for that elusive first managerial win.

Last season’s Premiership winners Perth Glory also finally got themselves on the winning books, as Phoenix end the round with three losses from three.

Elsewhere, Western United’s first derby ended in dismay as they fell to a 10 man Melbourne City, while Adelaide United came back from one goal down to take the points on a windy evening at Newcastle.

Here is a look at five standout performances from round three of the A-League.

Daniel Lopar

Western Sydney Wanderers were able to claim their first Sydney derby win in 980 days at the Bankwest Stadium, and it is largely down to just how much of an immense presence their new goalkeeper was.

Every time Sydney’s lethal striker duo of Adam Le Fondre and Kosta Barbarouses found themselves in on goal, the Swiss keeper was there, standing tall in the face of adversity.

The differences between Lopar and last season’s Vedran Janjetovic are stark. While last season, Wanderers fans would quake in their boots when the ball was anywhere near their keeper, now there is a calm and assured presence manning the sticks.

He even produced a clutch moment which will be tormenting Sky Blues fans for a while as he grabbed a loose ball on the edge of the goal line and defiantly shook his finger, confident that the ball had not crossed the line.

Indeed, there can be no better compliment to a player’s performance than your fans editing your Wiki page, which is exactly what happened following last night’s stellar display.

Jamie Maclaren

Another game, another couple of goals for J-Mac.

Maclaren is scoring for fun for both club and country, and his brace tonight propelled his side to a morale boosting 2-1 victory against their new Melbourne rivals, Western United, despite being down to 10 men.

A lot has been said about how the Socceroo always manages to find himself in the right position at the right time, with some labelling him as a ‘tap-in merchant’, but the winner he scored last night was pure class.

The forward pounced on a Brillante clearance by beating the defensive line and found himself one on one with the keeper. Maclaren takes a half-volley and connects it sweetly, Filip Kurto had no chance, and spurred his side to an improbable victory following the red card.

The question for Maclaren is, what next? He’s clearly too good for the A-League, nine goals in 11 appearances since joining City earlier this year, but his last experience overseas was bittersweet and inconsistent, with fallow spells in between several moments of magic. Can he nail it in Europe at the second time of trying?