Bilic is hit by boos problem

Lung simply of possession.

Pedro Obiang produced a more decisive effort a few minutes later and the unsighted Astra keeper had to move sharply to turn the ball around his post.

Before the game, the club had paraded new signing Edimilson Fernandes from FC Sion of Switzerland.

“I’m a player capable of getting the game going and adding excitement to the action on the pitch,” he said – a vital quality if Sunday’s boring Premier League win over the Cherries was anything to go by.

Again the occasion looked in danger of becoming a bit tepid and even an attempt by Lung to liven things up by kicking the ball straight to Calleri after 30 minutes swiftly came to nothing.

Skipper Mark Noble had been rested after picking up a knock robbed him against Bournemouth with one eye on the trip to Manchester City on Sunday.

But thanks to his first-leg penalty in the 1-1 draw, the impetus was actually on Astra to cancel out the away goal.

And sure enough, just before the break, Reece Burke lost possession, Astra sprang a counter-attack and Teixeira slid the ball into the far corner.

The reaction of the fans at half-time clearly shook West Ham up and substitute Enner Valencia saw his header saved seven minutes after the restart.

A more athletic push away by Lung denied Calleri soon afterwards and when the goalkeeper looked beaten by a fierce Sam Byram drive, Michail Antonio somehow contrived to get his body in the way.

Reid thundered a set-piece header wide and not even 20,000 extra voices compared to the Boleyn were enough to call for a penalty when Ashley Fletcher tangled with Teixeira with 20 minutes to go.

The West Ham substitute should have levelled three minutes later only to be denied from close range by Lung’s boot and a Valencia free-kick was turned away in more conventional fashion.

Appropriately, with a name like Lung, the last thing he was going to do was concede a last-gasp equaliser.

WEST HAM (4-3-3): Booked: