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West Ham 2 AFC Astra Giurgiu 2
Hammers throw away two-goal lead as Slaven Billic and James Collins are sent off, writes KADEEM SIMMONDS from the Boleyn Ground

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic couldn’t blame referee Adrien Jaccottet for sending off James Collins after his side threw away a two-goal lead to Romanian side Astra Giurgiu.

Enner Valencia opened the scoring in the first half and Mauro Zarate doubled the just after the break. But James Collins’s sending off midway through the second half allowed Astra back into the game and goals from Fernando Boldrin and an Angelo Ogbonna own goal made the return leg more interesting than it should have been.

Collins’s red card was the Hammers third in five games but Bilic felt this one was different to the others.

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