The post-match inquest was immediate, but silent. No words were spoken. Just deep thoughts. Slaven Bilic, the West Ham manager, sat alongside his staff on the home bench, biting his nails and staring out onto the London Stadium pitch. The boos had rang out and Hammers fans were already gone. Yes, for the second season in a row, West Ham have been dumped out of the Europa League in the qualifying stages and, for a second season in a row, it is FC Astra Giurgiu who have knocked them out.
Felipe Teixeira, a former West Brom man, scored the game's only goal to claim a 3-2 aggregate victory for the Romanians. The Premier League side fought back in the second period but it was not enough to secure a spot in Friday's group stage draw.
Similarly to the game against Bournemouth on Sunday, the Hammers struggled to generate much excitement for the thousands inside the spectacular London Stadiumarena, exhibiting a lack of creativity and purpose in attackin the absence of Manuel Lanzini, Andre Ayew,Andy Carrolland Dimitri Payet.
West Ham took a long time to get going against the Cherries, but they were not permitted such a luxury here, with the Romanians clinching an away goal right on the stroke of half-time from Teixeira, when the visitors broke away and finished clinically.Sam Byram was the Hammer at fault, taking a heavy touch which led to Astra rampaging up the pitch, Teixeira running free and latching onto Niculae's square pass beforeslotting coolly past Darren Randolph.
The former PSG, West Brom and Barnsley midfielder Filipe Teixeira has scored an away goal at the London Stadium pic.twitter.com/C1wLO9e2Eo
Bilic grimaced from his touchline position as the boos rang out around the stadium for the first time - the only opportunity they had created was Jonathan Calleri replicating a lack of finishing ability he displayed against Bournemouth, fluffing his lines when through one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
Following the break, the inevitable onslaught from the home side came, with Calleri missing another chance through a header, immediately before Antonio failed to convert from close-range following a drilled cross. Then, on the hour mark, captain Winston Reid rose brilliantly to meet a corner, heading narrowly wide. The signs were there though, Astra were tiring.
West Ham's challenge was livened up when Ashley Fletcher breathed new life into the squad, exploding onto the evening with an exciting appearance from the bench. The 20-year-old first had an appeal for a penalty turned down before he was denied by an excellent save from Silviu. Then, the sprightly forward won a free-kick on the edge of the area, from which Enner Valencia stung the palms of the impressively resolute Silviu.
And that's how you could sum up this Astra side: resolute, stubborn and plucky. West Ham, on the other hand, lacked quality and cutting edge in the final third on a desperately disappointing night that puts the skids on their season before it even truly began.