SheBelieves Cup 2019: England women 2-1 Brazil women after Beth Mead winner

Beth Mead's spectacular winner helped England come from behind to beat Brazil 2-1 in the opening game of the SheBelieves Cup.

The substitute's long-range goal capped a fine comeback after the Lionesses had gone behind early on in Philadelphia.

Andressa Alves put Brazil ahead from a controversial penalty after 16 minutes.

But Ellen White levelled from a tight angle early in the second half, before Mead's brilliant clincher gave Phil Neville's side victory.

A year after taking the job, Neville has now won eight of his 13 games in charge of the Lionesses.

Speaking before the match, the former England international said that even though the SheBelieves Cup is an invitational event, the results were crucial with the Women's World Cup only three months away.

While it was not a vintage performance from start to finish, his side's second-half showing will give them confidence for tough games against World Cup holders USA and Japan, who are in their group at France 2019.

England's first-half performance, in difficult wintery conditions, was described by BBC pundit and former international Alex Scott as "sloppy".

They had few clear-cut chances and looked laboured at times, but they may have had reason to feel hard done by after the penalty decision.

Legendary Brazilian Marta went on a blistering run into the box and was forced off the ball by Lucy Bronze. And while England felt it was a perfectly timed challenge, the referee pointed to the spot and Andressa slotted home with ease.

The second half was a different story.

Just three minutes after the restart, White latched on to a lovely through-ball from Fran Kirby and even though she was off balance she managed to find the bottom corner for her fifth goal in the competition.

England's dominance continued and substitute Mead secured the win in style with her sensational cross-shot from the right.

The Lionesses play USA on Saturday (21:45 GMT) live on BBC Two, while their match with Japan is on BBC Four at 22:00 GMT on Tuesday.

Neville said it had been "a really tough game".

"I had a lot of tired players but the determination in the second half was as good as I've seen as manager," he said.

"The pitch was really slow so we had to play in their half and I knew they would tire. We scored two great goals and I enjoyed the test, our defenders had to defend, and it's a big result."

And commenting on the penalty incident he added: "I thought it wasn't a penalty. There will be VAR at the World Cup so decisions like that will be better.

"But at half-time, that was the least of my worries, and I was probably a bit harsh on them because my frustration and anger boiled over."