Hanover 96 stood ready for the first Europa League knockout round after a 3-1 home victory Thursday against Ukrainian side FC Vorskla Poltava.

On board to celebrate Hanover's biggest Europa League win to date was goalie Markus Miller, whose own Europa League debut Thursday came just three weeks after a leave of absense for in-patient psychological treatment.

The 29-year-old had few opportunities to shine – and showed himself powerless against a penalty shot by Poltava's Roman Bezus.

In front of 41,000 spectators, already-qualified Hanover kicked it past the Ukrainians three times, with goals by Konstantin Rausch, Didier Ya Konan and Artur Sobiech. Rausch failed to convert a penalty kick, stopped by Potava keeper Sergei Dolgansky.

"We ended it very professionally," commented Hanover Sports Director Jörg Schmadtke.

"We can be happy with how we marched through the Europea League," he added. Hanover is second on the Group B table, behind Standard Liege. Vorskla Poltava came out of Thursday's match in fourth, behind FC Copenhagen.

Hanover is now waiting impatiently for the match draw on Friday for the first knockout round, which could pit them against heavyweights Manchester United or FC Valencia.

Also among the last 32 teams standing are fellow Germans Schalke from the western city of Gelsenkirchen. Schalke came out at the top of Group J on Wednesday after defeating Maccabi Haifa 3-0.

In Thursday's other Europa League action, Tottenham was eliminated from the competition despite beating Shamrock Rovers 4-0 at Dublin, Copenhagen lost 0-1 to visitors Standard Liege, Einhoven beat visitors Rapid Bucharest 2-1, and Legia Warsaw lost to hosts Hapoel Tel-Aviv 0-2.

Author: David Levitz (AFP, AP)

Editor: Nigel Tandy