Astra stun hapless Hammers

Two Goals from Constantin Budescu were enough to see Astra Giurgiu shock West Ham 2-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate to qualify for the Europa League play-offs.

Two Goals from Constantin Budescu were enough to see Astra Giurgiu shock West Ham 2-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate to qualify for the Europa League play-offs.

Astra 2 (3) West Ham 1 (2)

Lanzini gives West Ham the lead

Budescu scores an excellent brace

Young Hammers struggled on the night

Astra through to Europa play-offs

Match Summary

West Ham were up inside the first five minutes through Manuel Lanzini as he restored the Hammers lead from the first-leg with a composed finish that got the travelling fans rocking.

But it all unravlled later in the first-half as Bundescu netted a quickfire brace to put minnows Astra in a strong position, with a 3-2 lead in the tie.

The Hammers pushed for the equaliser hard in the second-half but new boss Slaven Billic was ultimately made to pay for selecting an under-strength squad as his side crashed out of the competition.

Full Report

The Hammers got off to the best possible start through Lanzini, the Argentine doing well to win the ball in the final third and fire a powerful strike past a helpless Silviu Lung Jr. who couldn't keep the ball from flying into the bottom corner.

With Slaven Bilic's men looking dominant, they had a scare in the 20th minute as stand-in stopper Darren Randolph failed to deal with Constantin Budescu's free-kick, but the ball crashed into the woodwork and away to safety.

That effort seemed to inspire the Romanians and they were soon level through skipper Budescu, some woeful defending by the visitors allows the midfielder some space and he fired an fierce shot from just outside the area that gave Randolph no chance.

Bilic's side were soon two down as Budescu again capitilised on some poor shape at the back, latching on to a William de Amorim cutback to give the hosts the lead in the tie once more.

Following the break, and the Hammers were nearly completely out of the tie when Fernando Boldrin found himself unmarked after a free-kick into the area, but he could only push his close range effort over the bar.

Slowly West Ham started to get their foot on the ball in the second-half as they went in search of the goal that would force the tie into extra-time, but were left wanting as Elliot Lee pushed his effort at the far post over following Josh Cullen's deflected cross.

West Ham grew increasingly desperate as the clock continued to wind down and probably should have had the equaliser with 10 minutes to go, Diego Poyet losing his marker down the right and finds Modibo Maiga in the area who somehow manages to fire wide.

As Bilic's side continued to throw caution to the wind, Denis Alibec was afforded a glorious opportunity to put the tie to bed but his curling effort cannoned back out of the post to safety.

It mattered little in the the end, though, as the Romanian minnows defied the odds to knock out a young but

hapless West Ham outfit and qualify for the play-off round of of the Europa League.