England impressed for much of its Women’s World Cup opener in Nice, yet only beat Scotland 2-1 on the strength of goals by Nikita Parris and Ellen White in the first half.

Try as they did, the Three Lionesses couldn’t put the game fully away until the final whistle thanks in healthy measure to Scotland goalkeeper Lee Alexander, who made four saves.

The numbers otherwise favored the Three Lionesses, who controlled possession and doubled their rivals’ shots on frame. In short, the scoreline was unfavorable to their performance.

Of course, the Scots felt an early penalty whistle was unfavorable to them. Francesca Kirby’s cross deflected off Nicola Docherty’s arm, and the referee whistled for a penalty that Nikita Parris converted with forceful aplomb:

Ellen White’s expert finish shortly before halftime doubled the advantage, and England played the whole first half with a confidence and flair that was readily apparent:

But Scotland hung around and capitalized on a counter in the 79th minute. Lisa Evans intercepted the ball and thundered forward before playing through Claire Emslie, who scored the first Women’s World Cup goal in her country’s history:

England managed to hold on, and will spend the night atop Group D with 2015 World Cup runner-up Japan and Argentina set to face each other on Monday.

Perhaps the game was more suspenseful than the Lionesses would have wanted it, but more performances like Sunday’s and there won’t be much nail-biting.

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