West Ham United have been knocked out of the Europa League after failing to overcome a resilient Astra Giurgiu side and falling to a 2-1 defeat in Romania.
The Hammers made a perfect start at the Stadionul Marin Anastasovici as Argentine midfielder Manuel Lanzini won possession in the opposition half before cutting inside and firing home two minutes in, despite Astra's goalkeeper getting a light touch on the ball.
Just after the half-hour mark, however, the Romanian side were level courtesy of Constantin Budescu, whose low shot from 22 yards out slipped through the legs of defender Doneil Henry and beat keeper Darren Randolph for pace before nestling into the net.
Just three minutes later West Ham were stunned once again as the 26-year-old attacking midfielder latched on to William De Amorim's cutback and duly slotted home, the visitors' defence being sliced open with ease.
Slaven Bilic's charges did not fare much better after the restart as another free kick into the penalty area was dealt with poorly, with Fernando Boldrin firing just over from close range.
Neither side had much of a cutting edge as the second half wore on, although Josh Cullen's cross in the 75th minute nearly fell to Kevin Nolan in a good position, while moments later Elliott Lee headed a decent chance wide.
The latter stages of the match saw both sides push forward in a bid to force their respective issues, Modibo Maiga firing a shot wide and Denis Alibec smashing the Hammers post moments later.
In the end, the Romanian side did enough to edge West Ham and progress to the Europa League playoff round at their young opponents' expense with a 4-3 aggregate win.
Giuseppe Labellarte
