Boca Juniors beat Colon 4-1 at home Sunday with the twin daughters of U.S. President George W. Bush watching from the stands as Argentina's front-runner moved within a whisker of clinching the Apertura title.

Jenna and Barbara Bush, wearing blue-and-yellow Boca jerseys, watched from the official team box at Boca's ``La Bombonera'' stadium as the host easily trounced its rival in the 17th outing of the Apertura season.

Former Boca star Diego Maradona, who had a statue unveiled in his honour before kickoff, was also on hand to watch Boca get to 44 points, four head of runner-up Estudiantes as two rounds remained.

A victory next week by Boca would give it the Apertura championship and leave the squad alone with Racing Club and River Plate as the only Argentine squads to ever win three consecutive first-division titles. But Estudiantes has won 10 straight matches, refusing to cede ground as it nipped close behind.

Boca went up 1-0 as Neri Cardozo opened scoring in the 17th minute. Colon's Giovanny Hernandez made it 1-1 in the 17th off a penalty kick. In the 51st minute, Boca's Guillermo Marino booted in a left-footer for a 2-1 lead and teammate Rodrigo Palacio added the final goals off a cross in the 61st minute and in the opening minute of injury time.

On Saturday, Estudiantes stayed in second with a 2-0 victory over Racing Club on goals by Diego Galvan and Gonzalo Saucedo.

River Plate finished the 17th round Sunday in third place with 37 points, too far behind to catch the front-runners despite a 1-0 victory over Godoy Cruz on the road in Mendoza.

River's Fernando Belluschi smashed a right-footer from 24 metres out in the 62nd minute, putting the ball in the upper left corner of the net.

In other matches Sunday, Belgrano of Cordoba drew 1-1 with Lanus, Gimnasia of Jujuy beat Banfield 2-1, Independiente edged Arsenal 2-1 and Gimnasia y Esgrima beat Newell's Old Boys 2-1. Rosario Central beat Quilmes 4-2 Friday, and Nueva Chicago drew 1-1 with Velez Sarsfield on Saturday.

© The Canadian Press, 2007