Phil Neville maintained a straight face when, on the eve of kick-off, England’s manager claimed he would “love” to be a Scotland player facing the Lionesses but there was mischief in his voice.

Admittedly Claire Emslie’s late goal made for a slightly nervy denouement and Nikita Parris’s opener from a penalty came tinged with controversy but on a warm, humid evening in the foothills above Nice Neville’s team generally retained control.

Granted England turned a little complacent in the second half and never looked devastatingly fluent but with Jill Scott impressive in central midfield, Lucy Bronze and Parris excelling down the right and Ellen White looking a born striker, Shelley Kerr’s Scotland were distinctly second best.

Hats off to Kerr for a series of transformative half-time tweaks and a distinctly improved second 45 minutes but Scotland did not win their first corner until the 65th minute, England’s Karen Bardsley had very little to do in goal and Neville’s pre-match gamesmanship was ultimately not really needed.

Instead the main thing missing was fans, the attendance of 13,188, meaning there were not so much rows as entire tiers of empty seats. It was disappointing but locals felt aggrieved at all tickets having to be purchased by credit card via Fifa’s approved website. With no option to purchase seats from the stadium box office and the local gendarmerie extremely nervous about a terrorist attack, it is perhaps no surprise so many stayed away.

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It appeared harder to get on a bus to the ground, let alone inside it, than to reach the departure lounge of some airports but once through all the scans and bag searches – not to mention all the officers with guns – the nature of the drama improved.

The Stade de Nice lies close to the Var river and it did not take long for its football namesake to be involved in its first controversy. When Fran Kirby whipped in a cross it hit Nicola Docherty on an outstretched arm.

There was no sign of intent, no hint of hand to ball, and it was hard to see how the Scotland left-back could have avoided it hitting her – arms are part of the human body after all – but under the new ‘zero tolerance’ rules it was clearly a penalty. At first no one appealed for it but the referee, Jana Adamkova, of the Czech Republic, was informed by the VAR official talking in her earpiece that she had missed a clear spot-kick and, having taken time out to view replays, Adamkova duly awarded it.

Parris doubtless impressed her new public at Lyon by stepping forward to beat Lee Alexander from 12 yards, lashing the ball into the top corner, but for those used to the pre-Var world it was hard not to conclude that the law is an ass.

The Lionesses were infinitely the better side, though, and would have scored non-contentiously had Alexander not reacted smartly to save with an outstretched leg after Bronze’s swashbuckling run and cross reduced Docherty to a nervous wreck before prefacing a stellar White volley.

White thought she had scored after being put through by Keira Walsh but had been marginally offside and that effort was, correctly, disallowed. No matter, doubt was permeating Scotland’s every move, something only exacerbated when Parris nutmegged poor Docherty.

England’s forward Ellen White (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring the second goal. Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images

Kerr has built her team to attack but opted for caution here. It left Scotland camped in their own half and failing to showcase the opponent destabilising skills of Kim Little, Erin Cuthbert et al. Deployed as a lone striker the gifted Cuthbert initially found herself largely isolated.

In contrast Neville had urged his players to take calculated risks, press high and pass and move at pace and, as White scored their second goal it really did seem a case of fortune favouring the brave. When Kirby evaded Rachel Corsie’s attentions by getting a toe to a loose ball the fall-out dropped kindly for White.

All that remained was for the centre-forward to curl her shot expertly beyond the helpless Alexander.

Although Cuthbert was inches away from reducing the deficit after seizing on a rare concession of possession on Walsh’s part – tantalisingly her low shot rolled inches wide of an upright – Kerr’s players struggled to string two or three passes together and their attempts to change the narrative by hitting England with long balls looked extremely optimistic.

The challenge was somehow to get Arsenal’s Little in possession in central midfield but Scotland’s trouble was that they repeatedly appeared horribly exposed down the flanks, particularly by Bronze and Parris on the right. Kerr could have done with Caroline Weir drifting infield less and assisting Docherty more.

Beth Mead had a goal rightly disallowed for offside and the excellent Alexander saved a White volley superbly but, creditably refusing to fold, Scotland rallied as England’s legs grew heavy in the heat. Steph Houghton turned briefly slapdash, conceding the ball to Lisa Evans. Her run cut through Neville’s tiring midfield like a jet through cloud before she picked out Claire Emslie, who delighted in lifting the ball, right-footed into the roof of the net from eight yards.

Scotland’s watching first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, celebrated but it was not quite enough to transform the Promenade des Anglais into the Terrasse du Tartan.