West Ham suffered more jitters in Giurgiu as they were held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Europa League play-off.
The Hammers, bidding to reach the group stages for the first time, looked set to take a 1-0 lead back to the London Stadium next week thanks to Mark Noble's penalty on the stroke of half-time.
However Romanian champions Astra Giurgiu, who beat Slaven Bilic's side in last season's qualifiers, stunned the visitors again when sub Denis Alibec hit a late equaliser.
Boss Bilic fielded a team of youngsters for last year's clash but is taking this season's competition seriously and brought a strong squad, even though he has a growing injury list.