ROME (AFP) - AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti believes there is much more to Andriy Shevchenko than just finding the net after the Ukrainian striker scored his 100th Serie A goal.
Shevchenko's second goal in Sunday's 2-1 home win over struggling Siena brought up the magic three-figured number and kept the defending champions six points behind leaders Juventus.
"Shevchenko is simply formidable," said Ancelotti. He's not just a great finisher, he's becoming our leader, a real team player."
Siena coach Gigi Simoni admitted Shevchenko was the difference between the two teams.
"He's awesome. He scores, sets up goals for others and he runs back to help his team defend," he said.
Juventus kept their distance from AC Milan with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Lecce where heavy rain had made the pitch almost unplayable.
Referee Massimo De Santis insisted the surface was good enough and Juve mastered the conditions to prevent the league's leading scorers from adding to their 24 goals.
Lecce coach Zdenek Zeman, who caused a storm of controversy six years ago when he accused Juventus of giving drugs to their players to speed up muscle growth, said the match should have been called off.
"If it hadn't rained so heavily it would have been a different game," he said.
"Only the referee can decide if the match can go ahead, but if it was up to me, I wouldn't have played it. This wasn't football, it was a lottery."
Juventus' 10th victory of the campaign left them on 31 points, six ahead of title-holders AC Milan.
Udinese were denied their fifth win on the trot when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Messina.
A point apiece left Udinese in third place on 19 points, two ahead of Messina and Chievo.
Chievo were held to a 2-2 draw at Parma where Domenico Morfeo's equaliser 13 minutes from time rescued a point for the home side.
Lecce fell two places to sixth after their loss and are tied with Inter Milan, Lazio, Livorno and Cagliari on 16 points.
Inter drew for the 10th time, sharing six goals at Cagliari where two late strikes from Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins ensured a point apiece.
Paolo Di Canio scored from the penalty spot five minutes from time to give Lazio a narrow 2-1 victory at home to Bologna, while Cristiano Lucarelli's superb 20-yard free-kick gave Livorno a 1-1 draw away to Tuscan rivals Fiorentina.
Roma, one of the favourites for the title at the start of the season, could have a relegation battle on their hands after their 1-0 defeat at Reggina which saw them drop to 15th place.
11/15/2004 - 11:04 GMT - AFP