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“You’ll never sing that, champions of Europe,” rang out through the stadium as Forest fans reveled in a further success against their Swedish opponents. A great deal has occurred since Trevor Francis’s winning header secured the continental trophy back in 1979, but the club continue to hold dear those memories. Equally, significant changes have occurred in the five weeks since the manager assumed control, with Forest looking reinvigorated and securing a comfortable victory courtesy of goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Yates, and Milenkovic, enhancing their hopes of progressing in the Europa League.

Building Steam with Another Straight Win

For Nottingham Forest, this result – against a Malmö side that had been inactive for nearly a month after finishing sixth in their home competition – represented a third straight triumph across every tournament and further built on the positive energy generated from the previous week's stunning victory at Anfield. While this fixture was a reminder of the club's European Cup success in spirit, the encounter itself was devoid of any significant tension or jitters.

It proved to be an event filled with sentiment, an eagerly awaited meeting and the third competitive clash between the sides since the showpiece event 46 years ago.

Forest leaned into the heritage, paying tribute to the heroes of that era by providing them, along with their visiting counterparts, the red-carpet treatment. 13 members of the Malmö's squad from that time were also in attendance. The two clubs shared a dinner together prior to the kick-off. Frank Clark, Colin Barrett and their teammates received a tumultuous reception when they assembled on the pitch a quarter of an hour before the start, and a typically superb tifo was unveiled in the home stand.

Recalling History

“30th May 1979, Robertson delivered the ball from the left flank,” displayed half of a large tifo, in capital letters. While nobody needed reminding of what ensued, the remaining section was revealed as the squads emerged from the dressing rooms. “There is Francis,” it stated. Another brilliant tifo showed Clough watching events beside his assistant Peter Taylor on a bench at the Munich stadium.

Dominance from the Start

So, Forest had drunk in those beautiful memories, but what about the performance on the night? It was pretty good, too. They were in full command from the moment the forward fired an attempt wide inside the opening moments and built a two-goal advantage by the break. Domínguez sent an early header wide and then Abbott, on his maiden European start, tried his luck.

It seemed appropriate that Yates, who joined the club aged eight, made the first dent in the visitors' defence led by their own homegrown skipper, Pontus Jansson, previously of Leeds United and Brentford FC. The Forest centre-back Nikola Milenkovic saw a cross deflect off a opponent and into the path of Yates, who finished right-footed from just inside the penalty area to score his first goal since last March.

Second Strike Seals Control

The scorer was involved in the team's next goal on the brink of half-time, as well, his unmarked header saved by Malmö’s shot-stopper Ellborg but Kalimuendo on hand to tap in the rebound from point-blank range. McAtee, the playmaker given a rare start and just his second outing since the autumn, was the spark, lofting a delicious ball towards Yates at the far post.

Just moments before, Hudson-Odoi’s driven shot was turned aside off the defender Rösler, son of former Man City striker Uwe Rösler, and an free Milenkovic also previously had a strong header smartly repelled by the keeper, who was back in place of the former Villa goalkeeper Olsen.

Opponent's Difficulties

This was Malmö’s first match since the Swedish Allsvenskan concluded on 9 November, and they struggled to equal the home team's intensity. The Reds made it 3-0 when the defender scored after his centre-back partner Murillo kept alive a set-piece. Yates had a shot blocked, but the Serbia defender Milenkovic pounced on the rebound.

Forest then pushed for more, with the winger dinking a right-foot shot on to the crossbar before Sangaré sent an ambitious effort off target from 30 yards. It was one of those nights. Dyche, aware of Sunday’s league game here against Brighton, implemented multiple alterations from the side that surprised Liverpool at their ground last weekend, when they also scored three times, though he introduced Elliot Anderson, Dan Ndoye and further fresh legs during the second half.

Hiccup-Free Evening for Forest

It turned out to be a flawless evening for Forest. Dyche could take off Murillo with the match already boxed off and subsequently brought on 19-year-old full-back Jimmy Sinclair for his senior bow. He talked about the club legends supplying “bits of gold” at regular meetings and, almost five decades on, the current crop showed they are capable of producing of excitement, too.