West Ham boss Slaven Bilic was left fuming after the Europa League elimination by Astra.
A goal from 35-year-old former Barnsley and West Brom midfielder Filipe Teixeira secured a 1-0 victory for the team currently 11th in Romanian Liga 1.
It meant a 2-1 aggregate defeat and no place in the group stage for Slaven Bilic's side, who would not even have had to play this play-off match had they beaten Stoke on the final day of last season.
Bilic said, "We said before that this was one of most important games for us this year. It was like a final that we had to win to go through, so the disappointment is massive.
"I'm angry and frustrated, but I'm also disappointed because we really wanted to go through. That's why we tried so hard last season, to get this opportunity.
"We wanted to play in Europe, we came so close and we wanted to have that experience as a club, a club that is not often in Europe."