“Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that,” came the chant as Nottingham Forest supporters, not for the first time, enjoyed getting one over on Malmö. A lot has happened since Trevor Francis’s stooping header clinched the European Cup in Munich in 1979 but Forest still, rightfully, cherish those days. A lot has also changed in the five weeks since Sean Dyche took the reins, Forest reinvigorated and another comfortable win, this time courtesy of goals from Ryan Yates, Arnaud Kalimuendo and Nikola Milenkovic, enhanced their hopes of qualifying for the Europa League knockout phase.

For Forest, this victory – against a Malmö side who had not played for almost three weeks after finishing sixth in their domestic league – represented a third straight win in all competitions and further built on the momentum gained from last weekend’s success at Liverpool. For the third successive match, they also scored three goals. This was a rerun of Forest’s European Cup triumph in name but the game itself was free of jeopardy or jitters. Malmö did not muster a single touch inside the Forest 18-yard box and their sole shot, a sixth-minute effort by Sead Haksabanovic, was distinctly forgettable.

This was an occasion dripping in nostalgia, an eagerly awaited reunion and a third competitive meeting between the teams since the European Cup final 46 years ago. Forest lent into the history, too. They made a fuss of the heroes of 1979, giving them as well as their Malmö counterparts the red-carpet treatment, with 13 members of the Swedish club’s squad from then also in attendance. Forest gave Frank Clark, Colin Barrett and co a rousing reception when they gathered on the pitch 15 minutes before kick-off and there was a typically superb tifo in the Trent End to boot.

“30th May 1979, John Robertson crossed it in from the left,” read half a giant banner, in block capitals, and while nobody needed reminding what happened next, the rest of it was unfurled as the players emerged from the tunnel. “And there’s Francis,” it read. Another brilliant tifo depicted Brian Clough observing events beside his assistant Peter Taylor on a bench at the Olympiastadion.

Ryan Yates puts Nottingham Forest in front in the 27th minute with his first goal in Europe. Photograph: Rui Vieira/AP

So, Forest had drunk in those beautiful memories, but what about the performance on the night? It was rather good, too. Forest were in complete control from the moment Kalimuendo whistled an effort wide inside two minutes and had established a two-goal lead at the interval. It felt fitting that Yates, who joined Forest aged eight, made the first dent in the Malmö defence led by their own homegrown captain, Pontus Jansson, formerly of Leeds and Brentford. Milenkovic’s attempted cross cannoned off a defender and into the path of Yates, who swept home from inside the box to register his first goal since March.

Yates was involved in Forest’s second goal on the verge of the half-time interval, too, his free header saved by Malmö’s goalkeeper Melker Ellborg but Kalimuendo on hand to convert the rebound from close range. James McAtee, the midfielder handed a rare start and just his second outing since September, was the catalyst, chipping a delicious ball towards Yates at the back post.

Quick GuideGlasner rues Palace misses in StrasbourgShow

Oliver Glasner admitted missed chances cost Crystal Palace after they slipped to a 2-1 Conference League defeat in Strasbourg.

Tyrick Mitchell’s first-half goal had put the Eagles on course for a third win from four European matches. But they were pegged back by the Chelsea-bound striker Emanuel Emegha and then sent packing by a first senior goal from teenager Samir El Mourabet.

Crucially, Palace hit the woodwork twice with open goals to aim at after the eccentric Strasbourg goalkeeper Mike Penders, on loan from Chelsea, went walkabout. Ismaïla Sarr’s 30-yard shy at an empty net hit the foot of a post and Adam Wharton’s half volley crashed back of the crossbar.

Palace manager Glasner told TNT Sport: “It’s easy, when you have twice the empty goal in front of you and you miss the goal twice hitting the post. Could be, should be 3-1 up and then we have a big chance and in the next situation you are 2-1 down. We’ve had this too often, to be honest, this season that we didn’t decide the game when we could decide it.

“Strasbourg, they are very good, they have very quick players, we knew it. You can concede the equaliser but then we have the next empty net goal we are missing and then we have the next big chance.

“Then you lose a game and I think that’s why we deserved to lose today.”
Palace are down in 18th place in the 36-team league with six points after two wins and two defeats.

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This was Malmö’s first match since the Swedish Allsvenskan ended on 9 November and they struggled to live with Forest’s intensity. Forest made it 3-0 when Milenkovic applied the finishing touch after his centre-back partner Murillo kept alive a corner. Yates’s volley was blocked but the Serbia defender Milenkovic feasted on the leftovers.

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“There was a lot of noise about both ends of the pitch when I got here,” Dyche said. “It was 20 games without a clean sheet and we’re correcting that slowly but surely, and they weren’t scoring from open play. All of a sudden we’ve corrected that. We’re scoring varied goals – not every goal can be a beautiful goal and I’ve spoken to the players about that. What about finding ugly goals, scraps in the box? To change the way you can score a goal is really, really important.”

Forest then went for the jugular, Callum Hudson-Odoi dinking a right-foot shot on to the crossbar before Ibrahim Sangaré sent an ambitious effort wide from 30 yards. It was that kind of night. Dyche discussed how the Forest old guard “still come out with bits of gold” at weekly get-togethers and, almost five decades on, the current crop showed they are pretty capable, too.

“Our supporters were the best thing about us – they were trying to help us for the whole 90 minutes and were absolutely amazing,” said the interim Malmö head coach Anes Mravac, who will join Kim Hellberg’s coaching staff at Middlesbrough next month, after taking charge of the Swedish club for the final time against Porto next month. “I’m sad we couldn’t give them more.”