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“You’ll never sing that, champions of Europe,” echoed through the stadium as Forest supporters celebrated a further win against Malmö. Much has happened since Francis's winning header secured the continental trophy in the year 1979, but Forest continue to treasure those glorious moments. Equally, major shifts have occurred in the five weeks since Sean Dyche assumed control, with Forest looking reinvigorated and earning a convincing win courtesy of goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Yates, and Milenkovic, boosting their prospects of advancing in the Europa League.

Gaining Momentum with Another Straight Win

For Nottingham Forest, this result – against a Malmö side that had not played for nearly a month after finishing sixth in their home competition – marked a third straight win across all competitions and added to the positive energy generated from the previous week's success at Liverpool. While this fixture was a re-run of the club's European Cup success in name, the game itself was free of any real jeopardy or jitters.

This was an event filled with nostalgia, an eagerly awaited reunion and the third competitive meeting between the sides since the European Cup final 46 years ago.

Forest leaned into the history, paying tribute to the heroes of that era by giving them, along with their visiting counterparts, the red-carpet treatment. 13 members of the Swedish club’s team from then were also present. Both teams enjoyed a dinner together before the match. Frank Clark, Colin Barrett and company were given a tumultuous welcome when they gathered on the pitch 15 minutes before the start, and a typically superb display was shown in the home stand.

Recalling History

“May 30, 1979, Robertson crossed it in from the left,” read half of a giant tifo, in capital letters. While nobody required a reminder of what happened next, the remaining section was revealed as the players emerged from the dressing rooms. “There is Francis,” it stated. A second brilliant display depicted Clough watching proceedings beside his right-hand man Taylor on a bench at the Olympiastadion.

Control from the Outset

So, Forest had soaked up those beautiful memories, but what about the performance on the evening? It was pretty good, too. They were in full command from the moment the forward whistled an effort off target inside the opening moments and established a two-goal lead by the half-time interval. Nicolás Domínguez sent an early header wide and then Zach Abbott, on his first European start, had a go.

It seemed appropriate that Yates, who joined Forest aged eight, made the initial breakthrough in the Malmö defense captained by their own academy product skipper, Pontus Jansson, formerly of Leeds and Brentford. The home centre-back Milenkovic saw a delivery deflect off a defender and into the pathway of the midfielder, who finished with his right foot from the edge of the penalty area to register his first goal since last March.

Another Goal Seals Control

Yates was involved in Forest’s second goal on the verge of half-time, too, his free header saved by the shot-stopper Melker Ellborg but Kalimuendo poised to convert the rebound from point-blank range. James McAtee, the midfielder given a rare start and only his second outing since September, was the spark, chipping a perfect ball towards his teammate at the back post.

Just moments before, Hudson-Odoi’s low effort was turned wide off the defender Colin Rösler, the son of ex- Manchester City forward Uwe, and an free Milenkovic also earlier had a powerful header smartly repelled by Ellborg, who returned in place of the ex- Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen.

Malmö’s Struggles

This was the Swedish side's initial game since the Swedish Allsvenskan ended on 9 November, and they found it hard to match the home team's energy. The Reds made it 3-0 when the defender scored after his defensive colleague Murillo headed back a corner. The captain had a shot stopped, but the Serbian centre-back Milenkovic pounced on the leftovers.

The home side then went for the jugular, with Hudson-Odoi dinking a right-foot shot on to the bar before Ibrahim Sangaré sent an optimistic effort off target from distance. It was that kind of nights. The manager, aware of Sunday’s league game here against Brighton, made multiple alterations from the side that stunned the Reds at their ground recently, when they also scored three times, though he introduced substitutes and further fresh legs midway through the final period.

Smooth Night for the Team

It proved a flawless evening for Forest. The coach could take off the defender with the match already boxed off and later introduced 19-year-old defender Jimmy Sinclair for his senior bow. Dyche talked about the club legends supplying “valuable insights” at weekly get-togethers and, nearly fifty years on, the present squad demonstrated they are capable of a few nuggets of excitement, too.