MAHDIA, Tunisia (Interstat) — EM Mahdia scored three goals and US Tataouine scored two, giving EM Mahdia a 3-2 home victory on Monday in their competition match. The home side recovered from an early two-goal deficit and remained unbeaten in the competition. US Tataouine’s Farouk Kalboussi scored twice in the first half, but EM Mahdia answered with three goals of its own. The result gave EM Mahdia its third win in the competition and left US Tataouine with its second loss. EM Mahdia improved to 3-0-2 in the competition, while US Tataouine moved to 2-2-1.

Kalboussi opened the scoring in the 10th minute and doubled US Tataouine’s advantage in the 22nd minute. EM Mahdia began its comeback in the 30th minute when Wassim Jaba Allah scored, and Bassem Chaouech pulled the home side level in the 33rd minute. H Zaouali also scored once for EM Mahdia, completing the home side’s three-goal total. Kalboussi finished with two goals while playing the full 90 minutes for US Tataouine. Jaba Allah, Chaouech and Zaouali each played 90 minutes and scored once for EM Mahdia. The goals from Jaba Allah and Chaouech came four minutes apart and erased the visitors’ early advantage.

US Tataouine is now 2-2-1 in the competition and 2-2-1 across all competitions. EM Mahdia is 3-0-2 in the competition and 3-0-2 across all competitions. The result kept EM Mahdia unbeaten in the competition and handed US Tataouine its second loss. EM Mahdia has three wins and two draws in the competition, while US Tataouine has two wins, two losses and one draw.

US Tataouine entered the match after a 1-0 win over OC Kerkennah, a 2-2 draw at Sporting Ben Arous, a 1-0 win over Stade Soussien and a 4-1 loss at Soliman in its previous competition matches this season. EM Mahdia had drawn with AS Agareb, drawn with Msaken, beaten OC Kerkennah and won at Sporting Ben Arous in its prior competition matches. Those results meant US Tataouine had won two of its previous four competition matches, drawn one and lost one, while EM Mahdia had won two and drawn two.

EM Mahdia’s ability to answer after falling behind shaped the match. US Tataouine held the lead after Kalboussi’s 10th-minute goal and again after his 22nd-minute strike, but EM Mahdia responded before the interval through Jaba Allah and Chaouech. Zaouali’s goal then supplied the final margin as the home side completed the comeback. The visitors’ early pressure produced the first two goals of the match, while EM Mahdia’s response produced the final three. US Tataouine did not score again after EM Mahdia took the lead.

The scoring sequence gave EM Mahdia the win despite Kalboussi’s early pair, which had put the visitors in position to take points on the road. EM Mahdia’s three goals came from Jaba Allah, Chaouech and Zaouali, while Kalboussi accounted for both US Tataouine goals. The home side’s record in the competition remained without a loss, while US Tataouine’s record moved to two wins, two losses and one draw. EM Mahdia also stayed unbeaten across all competitions, and US Tataouine’s overall record matched its competition record.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of EM Mahdia 1, US Tataouine 1. Interstat’s ELO system had projected US Tataouine with a 56.6 percent probability to win. The total score of 5 went under the over/under line of 1.5.