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“You’ll never sing that, champions of Europe,” rang out around the ground as Nottingham Forest supporters celebrated a further result against their Swedish opponents. A great deal has happened since Trevor Francis’s winning header clinched the European Cup in the year 1979, but the club continue to treasure those glorious moments. Equally, major shifts have occurred in the five weeks since Sean Dyche took charge, with the team looking reinvigorated and securing a comfortable victory courtesy of goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Yates, and Milenkovic, boosting their prospects of advancing in the European competition.

Gaining Momentum with Third Straight Victory

For Nottingham Forest, this performance – against a Swedish side that had not played for almost three weeks after ending in sixth place in their domestic league – represented a third consecutive win across every tournament and added to the momentum generated from the previous week's success at Anfield. While this match was a reminder of the club's European Cup triumph in spirit, the encounter itself was free of any real jeopardy or nerves.

This was an event dripping in sentiment, an eagerly awaited meeting and the third competitive meeting between the teams since the showpiece event over four decades past.

Forest leaned into the heritage, honoring the legends of that era by providing them, along with their visiting opponents, the VIP welcome. Thirteen 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 company received a tumultuous reception when they assembled on the field 15 minutes before the start, and a typically superb tifo was unveiled in the home stand.

Recalling History

“May 30, 1979, Robertson crossed it in from the left flank,” read one part of a giant tifo, in capital letters. While nobody needed reminding of what happened next, the rest was unfurled as the squads emerged from the tunnel. “There is Francis,” it continued. A second stunning display showed Clough observing events beside his assistant Taylor on a bench at the Olympiastadion.

Control from the Start

So, Forest had drunk in those wonderful recollections, but what about the showing on the evening? It was impressive, too. They were in full command from the moment the forward whistled an attempt off target inside two minutes and built a 2-0 lead by the half-time interval. Domínguez sent an early header off target and then Zach Abbott, on his first European start, tried his luck.

It felt fitting that Ryan Yates, who joined the club aged eight, made the initial breakthrough in the visitors' defence led by their own homegrown captain, Pontus Jansson, previously of Leeds and Brentford FC. The home defender Milenkovic saw a delivery cannon off a defender and into the pathway of Yates, who finished with his right foot from just inside the box to score his maiden strike since last March.

Another Strike Confirms Dominance

The scorer was implicated in Forest’s second goal on the verge of the interval, as well, his free header saved by the goalkeeper Melker Ellborg but the alert forward poised to tap in the loose ball from point-blank range. McAtee, the midfielder handed a rare start and only his second outing since the autumn, was the catalyst, lofting a perfect ball towards Yates at the far post.

A minute earlier, Callum Hudson-Odoi low effort was turned aside off Malmö back Rösler, the son of ex- Man City forward Uwe Rösler, and an unmarked Milenkovic had earlier had a strong header smartly saved by Ellborg, who was back in place of the ex- Villa goalkeeper Olsen.

Malmö’s Difficulties

This was Malmö’s initial game since the Swedish Allsvenskan concluded on 9 November, and they struggled to equal Forest’s energy. Forest extended the lead to three when Milenkovic applied the finishing touch after his centre-back partner Murillo kept alive a corner. The captain had a volley stopped, but the Serbia centre-back Milenkovic feasted on the rebound.

The home side then went for the jugular, with Hudson-Odoi dinking a effort on to the bar before Ibrahim Sangaré sent an ambitious shot wide from distance. It was one of those evenings. Dyche, mindful of the upcoming league game here against Brighton, made seven changes from the side that stunned Liverpool at their ground recently, when they also netted three times, though he introduced Elliot Anderson, Dan Ndoye and Igor Jesus during the final period.

Hiccup-Free Night for Forest

It proved a flawless evening for Nottingham Forest. The coach could take off the defender with the game already sewn up and subsequently introduced teenage full-back Sinclair for his senior bow. He talked about the Forest old guard supplying “valuable insights” at weekly get-togethers and, almost five decades on, the current crop showed they are capable of a few nuggets of excitement, too.