John Nene BBC Sport in Nairobi

Kenya 4-0 Mauritania

This was an easy win for Kenya

Kenya's Harambee Stars are just a stone's throw from qualifying for the Nations' Cup finals after hammering Mauritania at the Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi.

The Kenyans completely outplayed the Mauritanians and would have won by an even bigger margin had they converted the many scoring chances they created.

Having arrived just a few hours before the match, Mauritania's players looked tired and could not contain the speedy Kenyans.

The visitors played a defensive game throughout, and gave Kenyan goalkeeper Francis Onyiso little work to do.

Group 5 statistics

Robert Mambo headed in the Harambee Stars first goal in the 15th minute after being put through by John Muiruri.

Sweden-based Paul Oyuga added the second goal just before the break from a cross by Issa Kassim.

One minute after the restart, Dennis Oliech added Kenya's third when he fired home a close-range shot from Oyuga's cross, with Mambo then scoring his second of the afternoon to put the result beyond all doubt.

Mauritania's coach Moussa Khassour was full of praise for Harambee Stars, and explained why they lost the match.

"We didn't prepare well for the match and the late arrival affected my players," he said.

The last time the Harambee Stars played in the African Nations' Cup finals was in 1992 in Senegal.