NYCFC vs DC UNITED, Rough and tumble

The match was a physical one with 36 combined fouls and three bookings. It was played under wet, chilly conditions.

In other words, just what was expected when NYCFC meet D.C. United.

“Scrappy stuff, typical NYC game, the field wasn’t great, cold, rain,” D.C. United coach Ben Olsen said. “There were 30 fouls, somewhere in the range of that.”

Ring, who has no problem mixing things up, was fine with the physicality.

“For me, half of the fouls were no fouls, I said to the ref already,” he said. “I thought we played the ball more. But two teams who are pretty physical, especially midfield and backline. It was a physical fight. I always enjoy one, sure. But I’d rather win.”

Part of that included a tussle between Ben Sweat and Paul Arriola, who had to be separated by officials and teammates at one point. It was one of the more entertaining individual matchups over the 90 minutes.

“It’s good to play against top players like him,” Sweat said. “He’s one of the top midfielders, wingers in the league I think. It was good matchup. And I think we both had fun battling against each other.”