Instead Alex Brosque netted his first hat-trick in the competition and Adam Le Fondre made history to give Sydney FC a 5-2 victory over the 10-man Mariners at Jubilee Stadium on Friday.
Connor Pain and Aiden O'Neill both scored for the visitors, though Aaron Calver had the final say to provisionally lift the Sky Blues to the top of the table.
Central Coast were dreaming of their first victory of the campaign early when Pain beat Andrew Redmayne at his near post for the opener.
But then came two moments of madness from Cisse that resulted in two yellow cards and a confrontation with assistant coach Nick Montgomery after he was sent off in the 26th minute.
First the former Premier League defender was carded for kicking the ball away following a contentious foul, he then unnecessarily flew into a dangerous tackle on Siem de Jong.
Cisse was chastised by Montgomery as he exited the field, and the seething defender responded by stepping into the coach's box to fire back at the club legend.
And while the Mariners held on to retain their one-goal lead at half-time, it didn't take long for Steve Corica's side to take advantage of the extra man after the break.
In fact, it took just 10 minutes for Sydney FC to put away the struggling Mariners.
Brosque began the rout in the 49th minute with an exquisite back-heel of a De Jong cross.
Two minutes later De Jong, in what was easily his best outing for the club in his debut season, provided a teasing through ball that drew a contentious foul in the box from Jacob Melling.
The Mariners midfielder appeared to have got the ball ahead of Le Fondre, however replays showed his back leg also caught the Sky Blues striker.
