West Ham United claimed an away goal but could not hold on for victory as they were made to settle for a 1-1 draw against Astra Giurgiu in the first leg of their Europa League playoff tie.
Denis Alibec blasted home in the final 10 minutes at the Stadionul Marin Anastasovici to give his side real hope heading into next week's return match in East London.
A penalty late in the first half from Mark Noble had earlier given the Hammers a deserved lead, but they could not hold on for the remainder to see the tie now left in the balance.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action unfolded in Romania with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
ASTRA GIURGU XI: Lung, Vangjeli, Alves, Fabricio, Junior Morais, Sapunaru, Lovin, Ionita, Seto, Filipe Teixeira, Niculae
WEST HAM UNITED XI: Randolph, Byram, Oxford, Ogbonna, Burke, Obiang, Noble, Antonio, Valencia, Tore, Calleri
ASTRA GIURGU SUBS: Gavrilas, Alibec, Florea, Oros, Mansaly, Stan, Balaure
WEST HAM UNITED SUBS: Adrian, Collins, Reid, Browne, Fletcher, Carroll
© Getty Images
© Getty Images
Slaven Bilic: "Everyone at the club wants to participate. It is a great experience for the players to participate in different countries. We have a big job to do against the Romanian champions. I know there are many players from last year and a lot of international players. For me they played a good game against Copenhagen at home and I know how good the teams from Romania can be."
Darren Randolph: "Playing at the Euros against those teams and players can only help you when you perform at that level and give you confidence. If we can get into the group stages it will be good for me and the rest of the players who have worked just as hard. It is a great experience for us to play in different countries and sample different atmospheres. It will only benefit the team."
Loyalty 🇷🇴⚒ #ASTWHU pic.twitter.com/Jbp3lC7RNw
— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) August 18, 2016
© Getty Images
ASTRA GIURGU SUBS: Gavrilas, Alibec, Florea, Oros, Mansaly, Stan, Balaure
WEST HAM UNITED SUBS: Adrian, Collins, Reid, Browne, Fletcher, Carroll