L.A. Galaxy needs luck to get draw against D.C. United

Life is full of mysteries, frankly.

And, yes, there were even a few surfacing in a scoreless and disappointing tie between the Galaxy and D.C. United on Friday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

From the top: Would the Galaxy extend its run of clean sheets?

Yes.

The Galaxy has managed to not give up a goal in the last four games — that would be 411 minutes and counting — requiring a decent dose of luck when United’s Charlie Davies did the heavy lifting but missed a golden scoring opportunity in the 82nd minute after beating two defenders and goalkeeper Josh Saunders.

“We were poor tonight, no question about it,” Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said. “The only good thing about tonight is we lost those games at home last year.

“They [United] caught us with a few opportunities. The Davies [chance] at the end, we were lucky to get out of it. They played hard.”

The Galaxy (8-2-6) has not lost since May 1 against Dallas, compiling an unbeaten string of seven games, going 4-0-3.

Next, why would Galaxy star midfielder Juninho, jump the gun and exchange jerseys at halftime with Fred, his fellow Brazilian from United?

Unsure.

Of course, who wouldn’t want a jersey with the name Fred on it hanging in a closet as a keepsake? The better, and pressing, question, with all those intoxicating and appealing options, is why would a Brazilian soccer player opt for the simple, American-sounding Fred?

Or maybe it’s just to help out headline writers since his given name happens to be Helbert Frederico Carreiro da Silva.

Juninho, by the way, lasted only a half, leaving the game with a sprained left ankle. He injured the ankle last Saturday at New England.

“You could see after 30 minutes, he was struggling,” Arena said.

And lastly, who would fill the scoring void with Galaxy star Landon Donovan, now off on extended Gold Cup adventure?

Quick answer: Well, on this night — no one.

The loss of Donovan and also starting goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts to Gold Cup duty will loom large for the Galaxy, although Saunders probably prevented it from being a two-goal loss.

Said David Beckham: “I think you always miss players when they’re away. But we could have won this game. We also could have lost it.”

Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant, on Donovan’s absence: “He’s an X-factor for us, and we missed that tonight. We didn’t have many explosive plays tonight, and that’s what he’s known for. So we definitely missed that.”

Unfortunately, for the Galaxy, the best scoring option in the house happened to be an international celebrity: Attacking Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder of Inter Milan. Too bad he only seems to be here on vacation.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Times staff writer Douglas Farmer contributed to this report.