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“You’ll never sing that, champions of Europe,” was chanted through the ground as Forest supporters reveled in another success against their Swedish opponents. A great deal has happened since Francis's winning header secured the European Cup back in 1979, but Forest continue to cherish those glorious moments. Similarly, major changes have taken place in the weeks since the manager took charge, with the team appearing refreshed and securing a comfortable victory thanks to goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Ryan Yates, and Milenkovic, boosting their hopes of progressing in the Europa League.

Gaining Momentum with Third Straight Victory

For Forest, this performance – against a Swedish side that had been inactive for nearly a month after finishing in sixth place in their home competition – represented a third straight win across every tournament and added to the momentum gained from last weekend’s success at Liverpool. While this match was a re-run of Forest’s European Cup success in name, the game itself was free of any real tension or jitters.

It proved to be an occasion filled with sentiment, an eagerly awaited meeting and the third competitive meeting between the teams since the European Cup final 46 years ago.

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 Malmö's team from then were additionally in attendance. The two clubs enjoyed a dinner together before the kick-off. Forest legends and company were given a rousing welcome when they gathered on the field a quarter of an hour before the start, and a typically superb display was unveiled in the home stand.

Recalling the Past

“May 30, 1979, John Robertson crossed it in from the left,” displayed half of a large banner, in capital letters. While no one needed reminding of what ensued, the rest was unfurled as the players came out from the dressing rooms. “There is Francis,” it stated. A second brilliant tifo depicted Brian Clough observing events beside his assistant Taylor on a dugout at the Munich stadium.

Control from the Start

So, the hosts had drunk in those beautiful memories, but what about the performance on the night? It was pretty good, too. They were in complete control from the moment the forward fired an effort wide inside two minutes and established a two-goal lead by the half-time interval. Nicolás Domínguez sent an early header wide and then Abbott, on his first European start, had a go.

It seemed appropriate that Yates, who came to Forest as an eight-year-old, made the initial breakthrough in the visitors' defence captained by their own academy product skipper, Pontus Jansson, previously of Leeds United and Brentford. The home centre-back Milenkovic saw a delivery deflect off a opponent and into the path of Yates, who swept home right-footed from just inside the box to register his maiden strike since March.

Second Goal Seals Control

The scorer was implicated in Forest’s second goal on the brink of the interval, too, his unmarked header parried by Malmö’s shot-stopper Melker Ellborg but the alert forward poised to tap in the rebound from close range. McAtee, the playmaker handed a seldom start and only his second appearance since the autumn, was the spark, chipping a delicious ball towards Yates at the back post.

Just moments before, Hudson-Odoi’s low effort was deflected aside off Malmö defender Rösler, son of ex- Man City striker Uwe, and an unmarked the defender had previously had a strong header smartly repelled by Ellborg, who returned in place of the ex- Aston Villa goalie Robin Olsen.

Opponent's Struggles

This was Malmö’s first match since the Swedish Allsvenskan ended on November 9th, and they struggled to match the home team's energy. The Reds made it 3-0 when the defender applied the finishing touch after his defensive colleague Murillo kept alive a corner. The captain had a shot stopped, but the Serbian defender Milenkovic pounced on the leftovers.

Forest then went for the jugular, with the winger chipping a right-foot shot on to the crossbar before Ibrahim Sangaré sent an optimistic effort off target from distance. It was that kind of evenings. Dyche, aware of Sunday’s domestic fixture here against Brighton, made seven changes from the team that surprised Liverpool at Anfield last weekend, when they additionally scored three times, though he called on 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. Dyche could take off Murillo with the match long since sewn up and later introduced teenage full-back Sinclair for his first-team debut. Dyche discussed the club legends providing “valuable insights” at weekly get-togethers and, nearly fifty years on, the present squad showed they are capable of a few nuggets of excitement, as well.