A second goal by Adelaide United’s Evan Kostopoulos put the Reds in a dominating lead at first but the team became unhinged by Uzbekistan’s Bunyodkor in a heated 2-2 draw in Wednesday’s Asian Champions League quarter-final at Hindmarsh Stadium. But Reds assistant coach Michael Valkanis says the team will remain positive as they to Tashkent for the October 3 second leg. “It’s still on for us going over there … we have got to try and win the game,” he said. The Reds squandered a 2-0 lead in the first leg of the quarter-final on their home turf. The hosts, with goals to Iain Ramsay and Evan Kostopoulos, dominated the Uzbeks early but the tide turned when Reds defender Nigel Boogard was sent off just before half-time. Bunyodkor scored from the resulting free kick and equalised against the flagging 10-man Reds in the second half to bank precious away goals before their return bout in Uzbekistan on October 3. Ramsay and Kostopoulos scored in the initial 18 minutes, as the Reds took command against a seemingly brittle Bunyodkor. Ramsay’s opportunistic seventh-minute strike came after Dario Vidosic mis-timed a shot, with the ball rolling across the goal face allowing the Reds’ winger to push a sliding left-footer into the net. Kostopoulos logged his first goal for the Reds in an official match some 11 minutes later when a corner fell at his feet. Kostopoulos’ initial shot was blocked but the ball rebounded to gift him a second chance and he took it with a swift left boot. But Bunyodkor’s fortunes changed when Boogard was marched in the 42nd minute. Boogard fell behind in a foot-race with forward Murzoev Kamoliddin as they chased a dangerous Bunyodkor long ball, which neared the Reds’ defensive box. The Reds defender pulled at Kamoliddin’s right arm, causing the Bunyodkor attacker to fall. And from the free kick, defender Anvar Gafurov expertly curled a 25-metre left-footer into the top right corner of the net. A depleted Reds outfit lost their lead in the 75th minute when Shavkat Salomov scored when the ball inexplicably passed through Iain Fyfe’s legs on the goal line, allowing the Bunyodkor substitute to goal from less than a metre out. Reds assistant coach Michael Valkanis says Boogard’s sending off “changed the complexion of the game”. “We had played extremely good, attacking football and possibly could have had four or five goals,” he said. “It (Boogard’s red card) changed our whole game plan.”