Charlotte Independence cruised past One Knoxville SC 3–1 at home on Saturday in USL League One action, with Souaibou Marou's first-half and early second-half strikes setting the tone before Jordan Skelton added a third late on.

The opening 42 minutes passed without a breakthrough, but Charlotte found their moment just before the break. Marou latched onto a pass from Jon Bakero to open the scoring in the 43rd minute, sending the hosts into halftime with a slender advantage.

That lead doubled almost immediately after the restart. Marou and Bakero combined again in the 47th minute, the same connection producing the same result. Two goals in the space of four minutes spanning halftime left One Knoxville with a mountain to climb.

Charlotte continued to press, and Skelton made it 3–0 in the 76th minute, effectively killing the contest. The match grew scrappy in the final quarter, with Javen Romero picking up a yellow card for Charlotte in the 71st minute and Stavros Zarokostas cautioned for One Knoxville a minute later.

The visitors did pull one back through Denis Krioutchenkov in the 79th minute, finishing from a Babacar Diene assist to make it 3–1. Eli Conway was booked for One Knoxville in the 85th minute as frustrations boiled over, but there was no late comeback to be had.

Marou's brace and the Bakero-to-Marou partnership proved the difference on the night, and the comfortable victory will give Charlotte Independence momentum as the League One season pushes deeper into the summer stretch.