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All eyes were on former Greek international Kostas Katsouranis, but it was Socceroo midfielder Aaron Mooy who stole the show as Melbourne City advanced to their maiden FFA Cup semi-final.
Mooy bagged an impressive second-half hat-trick, and had a hand in another goal as Melbourne City overran Heidelberg United 5-0.
The result sees Melbourne City set up a semi-final meeting with Perth Glory who defeated Western Sydney Wanderers in Tuesdays other quarter-final on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
An FFA Cup season-high 11,372 spectators crammed into the Olympic Village in Melbourne’s northern suburbs hoping to see Euro 2004 winner Katsouranis inspire the former National Soccer League club to an unlikely win.
However, Melbourne City took a lead within two minutes as a smart passing movement started by Mooy ended with striker Bruno Fornaroli converting from close range.
City dominated periods of the opening half, yet it took a miraculous diving save from Tando Velaphi to deny Kaine Shepperd an equaliser, with the move started by Katsouranis featuring in a one-off guest appearance for the Bergers.
After the break, however, it was all about Mooy. The in-form midfielder doubled the lead midway through the second half with a smart low finish from outside the penalty area, and he repeated the feat a few minutes later.
Mooy tapped in a third in the latter stages to become the highest scorer in this seasons competition, before Fornaroli added salt to the wounds with a late fifth.
In Perth, the hero for the local side was newly-appointed skipper Richard Garcia who scored the winning penalty as the Glory triumphed 4-2 on spot-kicks, after Federico Piovaccari and Scott Jamieson missed for the Wanderers.
The Glory were on the back foot following some early Western Sydney Wanderers pressure, and the visitors were finally rewarded three minutes before half-time as new Spanish signing Dimas Delgado slotted home.
The Glory drew level on the hour mark as Nebojsa Marinkovic netted with a trademark long-range shot, though the goal originally seemed set to be ruled out after the assistant referee raised his flag for offside
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