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“Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that,” was chanted around the ground as Nottingham Forest followers reveled in another win against their Swedish opponents. A great deal has transpired since Trevor Francis’s winning header secured the continental trophy back in the year 1979, but Forest still cherish those glorious moments. Equally, major shifts have taken place in the weeks since Sean Dyche took charge, with Forest appearing reinvigorated and earning a convincing victory courtesy of goals from Kalimuendo, Yates, and Nikola Milenkovic, boosting their prospects of advancing in the Europa League.

Building Momentum with Another Consecutive Win

For Nottingham Forest, this performance – against a Swedish side that had been inactive for almost three weeks after finishing in sixth place in their home competition – marked a third straight win across all competitions and added to the momentum generated from the previous week's stunning victory at Anfield. While this fixture was a reminder of Forest’s European Cup triumph in name, the encounter itself was free of any significant jeopardy or nerves.

This was an occasion filled with nostalgia, an longed-for meeting and the third meeting between the teams since the showpiece event over four decades past.

Forest fully embraced the heritage, honoring the legends of that era by giving them, along with their Malmö counterparts, the red-carpet treatment. 13 members of the Swedish club’s team from that time were also present. Both teams enjoyed a dinner together before the match. Frank Clark, Colin Barrett and their teammates received a rousing reception when they assembled on the pitch a quarter of an hour before the start, and a characteristically superb tifo was unveiled in the home stand.

Remembering the Past

“May 30, 1979, Robertson crossed it in from the left,” displayed one part of a giant tifo, in block capitals. While no one required a reminder of what ensued, the remaining section was revealed as the squads emerged from the tunnel. “There is Francis,” it continued. A second stunning tifo showed Brian Clough watching proceedings beside his right-hand man Peter Taylor on a dugout at the Munich stadium.

Control from the Start

So, the hosts had drunk in those wonderful memories, but what about the showing on the evening? It was pretty good, too. They were in complete control from the moment the forward fired an effort wide inside the opening moments and built a 2-0 advantage by the half-time interval. Nicolás Domínguez sent an early header off target and then Zach Abbott, on his maiden European start, had a go.

It seemed appropriate that Ryan Yates, who came to the club aged eight, made the initial breakthrough in the Malmö defense captained by their own academy product captain, Pontus Jansson, formerly of Leeds and Brentford FC. The Forest defender Nikola Milenkovic saw a cross cannon off a opponent and into the path of Yates, who finished right-footed from just inside the penalty area to register his maiden strike since March.

Second Strike Seals Dominance

Yates was involved in Forest’s next goal on the verge of half-time, as well, his free header parried by the goalkeeper Melker Ellborg but the alert forward on hand to tap in the rebound from point-blank range. McAtee, the playmaker handed a rare start and just his second outing since the autumn, was the catalyst, chipping a perfect ball towards Yates at the far post.

A minute earlier, Hudson-Odoi’s driven shot was deflected wide off the defender Colin Rösler, the son of former Manchester City forward Uwe Rösler, and an free the defender also previously had a powerful header instinctively repelled by Ellborg, who returned in place of the ex- Villa goalie Robin Olsen.

Malmö’s Struggles

This was the Swedish side's first match since the Swedish Allsvenskan concluded on November 9th, and they struggled to match the home team's intensity. Forest extended the lead to three when Milenkovic scored after his defensive colleague Murillo kept alive a set-piece. Yates had a volley blocked, but the Serbia centre-back Milenkovic pounced on the rebound.

The home side then pushed for more, with the winger dinking a right-foot shot on to the crossbar before Ibrahim Sangaré sent an ambitious shot wide from distance. It was that kind of nights. Dyche, aware of Sunday’s league game here against Brighton & Hove Albion, made multiple alterations from the side that surprised Liverpool at Anfield last weekend, when they also netted three times, though he introduced Elliot Anderson, Dan Ndoye and Igor Jesus during the final period.

Hiccup-Free Evening for the Team

It proved a hiccup-free night for Forest. The coach could withdraw Murillo with the match already boxed off and subsequently introduced teenage defender Jimmy Sinclair for his senior bow. He talked about the Forest old guard providing “valuable insights” at weekly get-togethers and, almost five decades on, the present squad demonstrated they are able of producing of excitement, too.