A HAMMER BLOW
Minnows beat them two years in a row!
NEW home, same old West Ham. Out before the heats at the former Olympic venue. Fortune is still hiding and frustration is thriving. And Astra Giurgiu are still too good for the Hammers, despite operating with a manager who has been banned since March for a gambling offence and a monthly wage bill of £110,000.
Incredibly, the tiny Romanian club also knocked West Ham out of this competition last year.
The vision of glittering nights of European football to grace this stylish stadium will have to wait.
Undone, it turns out, by a blast from the past — Filipe Teixeira, a 35-yearold journeyman, once of Barnsley.
Teixeira ran through in the final seconds of the first half to fire Astra ahead when Reece Burke was caught in possession and Sam Byram out of position.
This vast arena, already muted in comparison to the raucous atmosphere at Upton Park, was stunned into silence.
Slaven Bilic’s team dominated the second half and Ashley Fletcher lifted spirits with a promising cameo from the bench but was among several guilty of squandering chances.
Astra goalkeeper Silviu Lung’s confidence soared with each save.
James Collins came on two minutes from time, hailed as the ‘Ginger Pele’ by the public address system and, within seconds, received a yellow card for flattening an opponent. It was that sort of night.
Perhaps it would have been different had the first chance been taken by Jonathan Calleri. Burke carried the ball forward from left back and unzipped Astra’s defence with his pass but Calleri made a complete mess of his attempted finish.
European football did much to enhance Upton Park’s aura and a successful campaign would help this new venue feel more like home. Still, Bilic took risks with his selection.
Already without half a dozen established first-teamer, he gave Mark Noble the night off to rest a niggling injury and stood by his pledge to play Darren Randolph in cup competitions rather than Adrian.
Lung made fine first-half saves from Pedro Obiang and Winston Reid and Michail Antonio saw an effort deflected wide.
Astra rode their luck and showed greater adventure towards the end of the first half.
Burke was caught in possession on the West Ham left and Daniel Niculae swept the ball across the field to Teixeira who galloped into the space behind right back Byram and finished crisply into the bottom corner.
Home fans booed their team down the tunnel at half time. They may be a long way from the pitch but that sound would have travelled across the vast expanse of tarpaulin- covered running track.
Astra boss Marius Sumudica, banned from the training pitch in Romanian football but allowed on the touchline in European games, took off a striker and bolstered midfield.
Fletcher had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down and forced perhaps the save of the night from Lung, who blocked with his right leg.
There would be no late escape, no reprieve. Some things don’t change.