Emerging Stars proceed to second round of Olympic qualifiers
What you need to know:
- A stunning free-kick from Sweden-based Ovella Ochieng' was the highlight of the return leg played under rainy conditions
- At this point, the Kenyans were well aware that Figaro was poor in positioning and they exposed that weakness in their third goal
- The hosts scored a consolation goal late on, but it didn't matter, as Kenya stormed the second round to book a date with either Seychelles or Sudan in March
Kenya's Emerging Stars are through to the second round of the 2019 Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations/ 2020 Olympic Games qualifiers after making light work of Mauritius Under-23 over two legs to go past the first round with a 8-1 aggregate score.
Francis Kimanzi's charges, who won the first leg 5-0 on Wednesday at Kasarani, picked from where they left as they humbled the hosts 3-1 at the Anjalay Stadium in Belle Vue on Sunday.
A stunning free-kick from Sweden-based Ovella Ochieng' was the highlight of the return leg played under rainy conditions.
Local based duo of Pistone Mutamba and James Mazembe - who also scored in the first leg - scored the other goals.
At the deserted 18,000-seater stadium and amid a heavy downpour, the lanky Mutamba nodded home the opening goal for Kenya after 40 minutes.
The Sofapaka man rose highest to meet a corner kick, directing the ball top the bottom right past the despairing dive of Alexandre Figaro.
This setback seemed to deflate all energy from the visiting team who needed to win this match by six unanswered goals to stand a chance of progressing to the next round at Kenya's expense.
And Kenya fully capitalized with the second goal via the fleet-footed Ochieng.
The 20-year-old winger elected to take a free kick from an area where perhaps an in-swinger into the box would have been ideal.
He went for glory instead, spotting the keeper well off his line, to beat him with a delightful 30-yard curler.
The ball initially looped high above before dipping into the net, with Figaro, left stranded.
At this point, the Kenyans were well aware that Figaro was poor in positioning and they exposed that weakness in their third goal.
James Mazembe, who started from the bench, score the third goal for the visitors directly from a corner kick midway through the second half as the keeper struggled to recover from an advanced position.
The hosts scored a consolation goal late on, but it didn't matter, as Kenya stormed the second round to book a date with either Seychelles or Sudan in March. Both sides settled for a 1-1 draw in the first leg and will clash in the second leg on Tuesday in Sudan.
The winning team over two legs in the second round will face either Libya or Nigeria in round three for a place in the Africa U23 Cup of Nations set for Egypt next year.
It is from this eight-team tournament that the three teams to represent Africa at the Olympics will be known. The top three teams will qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
