England 2-1 Scotland: Lionesses defeat old rivals in Women's World Cup opener
England’s Women’s World Cup campaign got off to a winning with a 2-1 defeat of Scotland in Nice.
A penalty from Nikita Parris, given following a VAR review, and Ellen White’s calm finish put Phil Neville’s team 2-0 up at half-time.
Scotland rallied in the second period and halved the deficit when Claire Emslie broke through England’s defence in the 79th minute.
But the Lionesses held on to take the early lead in Group D with Japan and Argentina set to play on Monday.
Following a frenetic opening period, England took the lead in controversial fashion in the 14th minute.
A cross from Fran Kirby hit the arm of Scottish defender Nicola Docherty and, after a review from on-field referee Jana Adamkova, the penalty was awarded.
Parris stepped up to confidently convert the spot kick for her first World Cup goal.
Once England took the lead, they dominated.
White forced a fine save from goalkeeper Lee Alexander, who got down to her left smartly to palm away a near-post effort.
Moments later, in the 23rd minute, White thought she had doubled England’s lead.
The Manchester City striker floated a header over the outstretched hands of Alexander but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
Scotland were on the ropes and a second goal for England duly arrived in the 40th minute. The Scots lost possession on the edge of their own before White steadied herself and guided a cool finish beyond Alexander.
A first sight of goal for Scotland arrived after 41 minutes, with England this time guilty of sloppy defending. Erin Cuthbert was unable to capitalise, however, dragging her shot wide of Karen Bardsley’s goal.
England started the second half in flying fashion, Beth Mead finding the back of the net within 30 seconds of the restart.
But for the second time in the game, England were denied by an offside flag. White, once again, had strayed beyond the last defender before squaring for Mead to finish.
Scotland seemed to respond to the let off, keen to avoid a repeat of the 6-0 defeat they suffered in their last competitive meeting with England at Euro 2017. But, try as they might, Shelley Kerr’s team struggled to create any clear-cut chances.
With 20 minutes to go, England nearly found a third. White, in the thick of the action throughout, reacted quickest to Jill Scott’s knock down from a corner but was denied by Alexander who held on to her close-range volley.
A breakthrough for Scotland finally arrived with just over 10 minutes remaining. Lisa Evans drove forward and found Claire Emslie, who shrugged off the challenge of Alex Greenwood before firing high into the net from close range.
But Scotland failed to further test Bardsley in the closing minutes, meaning they head into their second match with Japan on Friday needing to get something to boost their hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
England can put themselves in pole position to win the group by beating Argentina, also on Friday.