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“You’ll never sing that, champions of Europe,” rang out around the ground as Forest followers reveled in a further result against Malmö. Much has happened since Francis's winning header secured the European Cup back in 1979, but Forest still treasure those glorious moments. Equally, significant shifts have taken place in the five weeks since Sean Dyche took charge, with Forest looking reinvigorated and earning a comfortable victory thanks to goals from Kalimuendo, Yates, and Milenkovic, boosting their prospects of progressing in the European competition.

Building Steam with Third Consecutive Victory

For Nottingham Forest, this result – against a Swedish side that had not played for almost three weeks after ending in sixth place in their domestic league – marked a third straight win across every tournament and added to the positive energy generated from the previous week's success at Liverpool. While this fixture was a re-run of Forest’s European Cup success in spirit, the game itself was devoid of any real tension or jitters.

It proved to be an event filled with nostalgia, an longed-for reunion and the third clash between the teams since the European Cup final over four decades past.

Forest fully embraced the history, honoring the legends of 1979 by providing them, along with their Malmö opponents, the red-carpet treatment. Thirteen members of the Swedish club’s team from that time were also present. The two clubs shared a meal together prior to the match. Forest legends and company received a rousing reception when they gathered on the field a quarter of an hour before the start, and a typically superb tifo was unveiled in the home stand.

Remembering the Past

“30th May 1979, Robertson delivered the ball from the left flank,” displayed half of a large banner, in block capitals. While nobody needed reminding of what ensued, the rest was revealed as the players came out from the dressing rooms. “And there’s Francis,” it stated. A second brilliant tifo depicted Clough observing events beside his assistant Peter Taylor on a dugout at the Olympiastadion.

Control from the Outset

So, the hosts had soaked up those beautiful memories, but what about the performance on the evening? It was pretty good, too. They were in complete control from the moment Kalimuendo whistled an effort off target inside two minutes and established a two-goal advantage by the break. Nicolás Domínguez sent an early header off target and then Abbott, on his maiden European start, tried his luck.

It seemed appropriate that Yates, who came to the club aged eight, made the initial breakthrough in the visitors' defence led by their own academy product captain, Jansson, previously of Leeds and Brentford FC. The Forest defender Nikola Milenkovic saw a cross deflect off a defender and into the pathway of the midfielder, who finished with his right foot from just inside the penalty area to score his maiden strike since last March.

Another Strike Seals Control

Yates was implicated in the team's next goal on the verge of half-time, as well, his free header saved by Malmö’s shot-stopper Melker Ellborg but Kalimuendo on hand to convert the rebound from point-blank range. McAtee, the midfielder handed a rare start and only his second appearance since September, was the spark, chipping a delicious ball towards Yates at the far post.

A minute earlier, Hudson-Odoi’s driven shot was turned wide off the back Rösler, the son of former Man City striker Uwe Rösler, and an unmarked Milenkovic had previously had a strong header instinctively saved by the keeper, who was back in place of the ex- Villa goalie Robin Olsen.

Malmö’s Struggles

This was the Swedish side's initial game since the domestic league ended on 9 November, and they found it hard to equal the home team's intensity. The Reds made it 3-0 when the defender applied the finishing touch after his defensive colleague Murillo kept alive a set-piece. Yates had a volley blocked, but the Serbian defender Milenkovic feasted on the leftovers.

Forest then pushed for more, with Hudson-Odoi dinking a right-foot shot on to the bar before Ibrahim Sangaré sent an optimistic shot off target from 30 yards. It was one of those evenings. Dyche, aware of Sunday’s domestic fixture here against Brighton & Hove Albion, implemented seven changes from the side that stunned the Reds at Anfield last weekend, when they additionally netted three times, though he introduced substitutes and further fresh legs midway through the final period.

Hiccup-Free Night for Forest

It proved a hiccup-free evening for Nottingham Forest. Dyche could take off Murillo with the game long since boxed off and subsequently brought on 19-year-old full-back Sinclair for his senior bow. Dyche talked about the club legends providing “bits of gold” at weekly get-togethers and, almost five decades on, the current crop demonstrated they are capable of a few nuggets of excitement, too.