"Misfortune never seems just. Only happiness is one’s due," said the heartbroken narrator of Raymond Radiguet’s classic novella, ‘The Devil In The Flesh’. He was talking about love, but he might as well have been talking about soccer.

After Saturday’s 0-0 home draw with Dallas Burn, DC coach Ray Hudson was seething at the misfortune of what he called "an absolutely stonewall certain penalty" that was not awarded for Jason Kreis’ ninth minute challenge on Santino Quaranta. The DC forward was "butchered in the box", Hudson added.

This was an unfortunate choice of words given that just outside that same penalty area, much later in the evening, Dema Kovalenko had broken Dallas midfielder Ronnie O’Brien’s leg with a late, two-footed challenge. But it was the tackle on Quaranta, not O’Brien, that the coach was referring to when he said: "These are the kinds of games that cost people jobs. These are the kinds of games that cost players their careers."

Indeed, ask former Dallas defender Brandon Pollard, who had his leg broken by Kovalenko in October 1999 during a playoff game between Dallas and Kovalenko’s former club Chicago Fire. Pollard struggled after returning from injury and retired after just nine further games to go and work in a health food bakery. It can only be hoped that the 24-year old Irishman O’Brien’s recovery will be more long term.

Hudson was right to pinpoint the quality of the refereeing, but not just because of the Quaranta incident. After O’Brien went down, referee Jesse Johnson did not blow for a foul, and even after a long talk with his linesman, who was perfectly positioned to see what happened, Kovalenko did not receive a rebuke from the match officials, let alone a card. In the end he ambled back to midfield for a less than friendly chat with Dallas midfielder Chad Deering, who was also playing the day Pollard’s leg was broken and was perhaps refreshing the DC midfielder’s memory of his poor record on sliding tackles.

If United’s players have been making a habit of breaking opponents’ legs of late, they seem to have simultaneously got out of the groove of scoring goals at RFK, despite a much improved performance compared with the snore draw against Chicago two weeks earlier.

The back line again held firm, with Ryan Nelsen the indisputable MVP not just for his defending, but his sharp distribution. And how ‘MLS Wrap’ on Fox Sports World failed to make Nick Rimando’s backwards-peddling tip over of Antonio Martinez’ dipping shot as its ‘Save of the Week’ is a question the goalkeeper may wish to put to co-presenter John Harkes when he turns up to play for DC against Tottenham next week. Strangely, the show didn’t even feature it in the game highlights.

Jose Alegria played it both neat and solid in his new role in the central midfield holding position, and it was good to see Santino Quaranta running at defenders again. Yet with Earnie Stewart seemingly determined to stay off the score sheet, and Dallas stopper DJ Countess (my favourite name in MLS) making two fine diving saves from Etcheverry and Kovalenko, it was a case, as Hudson pointed out, of not finishing the job.

"Without any penetration it’s just masturbation," he elaborated. "Right now we’re just playing with ourselves." So when will DC let out a bark, rip off its shirt and give some team a night to remember?

Hudson hinted at changes to come in the front line, and let’s hope he makes them soon. Stewart looks out of touch as an out and out forward, not showing himself sufficiently to receive the ball, and lacking confidence when given the chance to score. He would surely be more effective in the wide midfield role he holds for the US national side. Eskandarian and Curtis are busier, more bustling strikers who should be given an opportunity to support Quaranta and take advantage of the ever-improving service from Convey and Olsen in midfield.

Despite Hudson’s complaints about the penalty call, any plans for a change up front will be his acknowledgment that United still had a further 91 minutes to put the ball in the net, and they failed to do so. Frustration at this was reflected in the three unnecessary yellow cards that DC picked up, two for dissent and one for retaliation (if you didn’t see the game, there are no prizes for filling in the names). You can only blame the referee up to a point, and in the end it was poor finishing from clear-cut openings that created the match result, not just plain bad luck.

"Luck?" laughed Dallas coach Mike Jeffries after the game when asked if he thought his side had enjoyed some. "Soccer’s a game in which there’s always a little bit of a factor of luck, but no. In the end I would look at the other way - we’re the team that hit the crossbar."

Although it’s all relative. The only man to suffer genuine misfortune at RFK on Saturday night was Ronnie O’Brien.