Palermo sets goals record as Boca recover winning ways

Buenos Aires: Argentina striker Martin Palermo, hoping to make Diego Maradona`s World Cup squad, set a Boca Juniors record of 220 goals when he scored twice in their 4-0 defeat of Arsenal in the Clausura championship.

Palermo surpassed the 218 goals scored by Roberto Cherro, who had held the record since the late 1930s, when he tapped the ball home after nine minutes following a fine move by Juan Roman Riquelme and added another in the second half from fellow striker Nicolas Gaitan`s pass. The victory under new coach Roberto Pompei ended a run of three consecutive defeats in which Boca, whose previous coach Abel Alves quit on Friday, conceded nine goals.Riquelme also scored as Boca climbed to joint 14th in the standings with 14 points from 14 matches. Palermo is in his second spell at Boca after his debut with the club in 1997 following a transfer from Estudiantes. He played for Villarreal, Real Betis and Alaves in Spain between 2001-2004.He has scored seven goals in 12 matches for Argentina and Maradona has said he had an 80 percent chance of being in his squad for the finals in South Africa starting on June 11. Bureau Report