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Love's sublime solo goal produced the first major shock of the Cup as Damien Mori's NPL boys dumped out the Hyundai A-League heavyweights.
An end-to-end match was settled 15 minutes from time when Love beat five Wanderers defenders on a blistering run before finishing past Ante Covic.
City held on over the closing stages to pull off the upset and spark emotional scenes at Marden Sports Complex.
"It's one of the happiest moments of my life," Love told www.theffacup.com.au.
"I was stoked, absolutely stoked. It's just an unbelievable feeling.
"Basically I just saw the space and ran for it. I was planning to pass it off for Costa but I saw the opportunity so I thought I might as well take it."
After disposing of one of the Cup favourites, City will be confident of going deep into the inaugural Westfield FFA Cup.
Love said the key to the win was following coach Mori's instructions to the tee.
"The boys played spectacularly," he said.
"We stuck to the game plan, everything that Damien told us to do before the game we stuck to it. We tried our best and thankfully we came out on top at the end of the day.
"I think we'll be sore in the morning but we're looking forward to the next round and hopefully we can do just as well in the next round as we did tonight."