The victorious visitors were driven on by the relentless Rostyn Griffiths in midfield, the power and aggression of Andy Keogh and the guile and skill of Diego Castro up front. Perth's class and control proved far too good for the disappointing hosts in front of a crowd of 9,944 at AAMI Stadium.

City started nervously and the defence looked out sorts in the opening exchanges, as the hosts went on to ship two goals in the first half hour.

Although they finished in spirited fashion with a late flurry, for extended periods City showed too little of the quality and urgency required to get back into the match against opponents who relish a physical battle. In attack neither Tim Cahill nor Bruno Fornaroli were able to threaten the Perth goal with any regularity.

The obituary for City's campaign might have been written on Sunday evening when the final whistle blew, but the inquest will begin in earnest on Monday.

Given the level of investment - a reported $9 million on players this season - the club's Manchester based paymasters from the City Football Group will be looking for some hard truths from all concerned as to why this campaign, with its headline acquisition of Socceroo legend Cahill, petered out in such disappointing fashion.

Perth took the lead in the 16th minute, and never looked likely to relinquish it. Glory stalwarts Keogh and Castro did the damage - as they have done for Perth so often these past two seasons.

But good as they were, the Perth pair were aided and abetted by some dreadful defending by City whose inability to close down attacks and shut down opponents has been the enduring characteristic of their season.

City's defence looked highly culpable as they stood back and allowed Castro to pick his spot.

Rostyn Griffiths, Glory's redoubtable midfielder and captain, was the instigator as he found Keogh on one of the Irishman's foraging forward runs.

The Perth striker is a lively presence at the best of times - and could have been devastating given the space he was being allowed in the early stages of the match. He held the ball up under little pressure, before finding Castro as the latter galloped into the penalty area.

City had half a dozen defenders in the area, but no one closed down the Spaniard, and no one put in a challenge. Castro could not believe his luck as he was allowed to create space and then pick his spot to beat Dean Bouzanis.

The goal was exactly what Glory coach Kenny Lowe would have wanted given that his robust Perth side loves to contain opponents and then hit them hard on the counter attack. It was the perfect recipe for Glory as City would now have to push men forward in pursuit of an equaliser, leaving themselves open to the counter.

City looked increasingly rattled. Michael Jakobsen blundered, Bouzanis mis-kicked as he cleared and other players mis-directed passes or mis-controlled the ball as they struggled to find any sort of rhythm.

Griffiths was instrumental once more in creating Perth's second when he fed Castro - who else - in an advanced position.

The Spaniard found Joel Chianese on the right, and the winger cut in before unleashing a drive that beat Bouzanis to double the visitors advantage on the half hour mark.

Things could have got worse a minute later when Griffiths created yet another opening for Chianese, whose cross was volleyed goalwards by Keogh only for Victory keeper Bouzanis to palm the ball under control.

City looked dazed, confused, bereft of ideas and initiative in the face of the challenge that now confronted them, while Glory, their tails up, looked threatening almost every time they got into the opposition half.

Cahill flashed a header wide from a corner early in the second half, but it wasn't until the dying minutes that they looked really dangerous, Fornaroli drawing an excellent save from Liam Reddy and Nick Fitzgerald blazing over from the rebound.