Women’s World Cup – England vs Scotland LIVE REACTION: Ellen White and Nikita Parris on the scoresheet as Lio – The Sun

IT should have been Nice and easy for Phil Neville – but sometimes all that matters is the result, writes Martin Lipton.

Nikita Parris’ early VAR-awarded penalty and a cool finish from Ellen White looked to have put the Lionesses in total command.

But England failed to take their chances to put the game away.

And when Claire Emslie took advantage of a mistake by skipper Steph Houghton, Neville’s side were forced to ensure a needlessly nervy finish.

Neville will demand better when England play Argentina on Friday, knowing victory will ensure their progress to the last 16.

And the England boss will also hope for more fans to make the shorter hop to Le Havre than the paltry 13,000 inside the Allianz Riviera.

At least there was no repeat of the humiliation the last time an England side had played here, the Euro 2016 debacle at the hands of Iceland.

Yet this was not the sort of performance to worry the likes of France, Germany and the USA, against a Scottish side who were woefully short of real quality.

For an hour or so, England were in complete control, their intensity forcing the Scots deep into their own territory.

Jill Scott dominated midfield, White was a constant menace and England had a threat wide on both flanks as Beth Mead and Parris tormented the Scottish full-backs.

Had the Lionesses thrown it away, they would have been spewing.

Instead, they got the win they needed. But it was far from impressive.

ENGLAND have their win – but Phil Neville was not happy at full time.

He felt his team took their foot off the gas in the second half and allowed a dangerous Scotland side back into the game.

But ultimately they take the three points and top Group D thanks to first-half goals from Nikita Parris and Ellen White.

Nikita Parris, scorer of the first goal: “Overjoyed, its my first World Cup and we have that win on the board.

“Scotland came out fighting, so credit to them that they came out fighting in the second half.

“You just have to stay composed in the moment, but when it became a pen I had to block out some whistles and boos.

“We’ve got six games to go – we want to go to the final. The pen went in and now we move on.”

Phil Neville: “I was pleased with the result. The first game is always the most difficult.

“But we set certain standards. And if we do drop, then we get a second half like we just got.

“We have to be relentless. We want to be here for the next 37 days. In the second half, we needed the third goal. They got an opportunity, they put it away. It starts with me – we should have been better.

“The only concern is that I wanted us to pass the ball and see out the game. It wasn’t until 85 minutes that we did that. It was a lesson that every World Cup game will be difficult.

“Millie Bright is being assessed by the doctor now.”