Senegal sailed into the quarterfinals of the African Nations Cup as Group B winners with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Zimbabwe on Thursday.
Goals from Sadio Mane and Henri Saivet ensured the 2002 finalists would progress B with their final match against Algeria to spare, but the margin of victory should have been much larger.
Senegal, who defeated Tunisia in their opening Group B match, started very brightly and twice went close to scoring through Keita Balde and Mame Biram Diouf before Liverpool's Mane put them ahead after nine minutes.
Senegal won the ball back in midfield with Keita, who sent Saivet free down the left. His shot across the goalkeeper was going wide but the ball rolled perfectly into the path of Mane at the far post to tap into an empty net for his second goal of the tournament.
Senegal had only to wait four more minutes to extend their lead as Saivet whipped a lovely curling free-kick over the defensive wall and into the net from 25 yards out.
In the earlier game in Group B, Tunisia gave themselves a lifeline and put northern neighbours Algeria on the brink of elimination with a 2-1 win.
An Aissa Mandi own goal early in the second half and a Naim Sliti penalty after 66 minutes put Tunisia in control before Sofiane Hanni pulled a goal back in stoppage time but it was too little too late for Algeria, who are now reliant on results elsewhere if they are to progress from Group B.
The tempo came to life five minutes into the second half when Tunisia took the lead. Ferjani Sassi lifted the ball into the path of Youssef Msakni down the left-hand side and his low cross deflected off Mandi and past the goalkeeper at his near post.
Tunisia doubled their advantage when Msakni's ball over the top brought a mistake from Faouzi Ghoulam, allowing Wahbi Khazri in on goal. Ghoulam clipped the attacker's heels and Sliti tucked away the penalty.
Algeria had a glimmer of hope when Hanni brilliantly finished Guedioura's cut back into the roof of the net but they could not find an equaliser in the remaining four minutes of stoppage time.
The result leaves Tunisia with three points from two games, with Algeria having picked up just one point so far.
"There are mistakes every day in football, every weekend in the big or small teams," Algeria defender Djamel Mesbah said. "We should not talk about individual mistakes. We win together, we lose together.
"This hurts the heart, especially as it's a derby, but now we think about Senegal."
To advance, Algeria must beat Senegal, who will have nothing to play for in their final game, and hope that Zimbabwe defeat Tunisia, but not by a greater margin than their own victory.