Manchester City 2-2 Arsenal: Barclays Premier League - as it happened

That is all from us for now, but stay tuned to IBTimes UK for post-match reaction. We will be back on Tuesday night to bring you live coverage of West Ham vs Manchester United.

There is also the small matter of Liverpool vs Chelsea on Wednesday in addition to two crucial relegation clashes between Norwich-Watford and Sunderland-Everton.

Bye for now.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have not guaranteed their place in the Champions League but a healthy goal difference means they are unlikely to drop out. They also host relegated Aston Villa on the final day.

So City's hopes of playing in the Champions League under Guardiola next term remain in the balance. A failure to find a winner today sees them stay in third, but they are now just two points ahead of Manchester United ahead of their rivals' game in hand at West Ham on Tuesday.

Pellegrini's final match in charge comes at Swansea on the final day, but City are likely to need a favour from the Hammers or Bournemouth if they are to take their place in Europe's elite club competition once again in 2016-17. It's out of their hands.

Full-time

Manchester City 2-2 Arsenal

The hosts huff and puff but cannot find a way through as Toure is dispossessed. Sanchez then nicks in ahead of Fernandinho and the midfielder brings down Giroud again to eat up valuable seconds.

Had the Frenchman released Walcott on his right, then Arsenal might have scored a winner of their own.

He is quickly joined in the book by Fernandinho, who brings down Giroud with a rather petulant late foul. Time is running out for City.

Arsenal launch a rare attack but Sanchez's scooped pass towards Ramsey runs out of play.

Three minutes of additional time signalled by the fourth official as Otamendi is booked for a mistimed lunge that prevents Sanchez from bursting forward from the halfway line.

Anthony Taylor waves away City's penalty appeals as De Bruyne burrows into the box and sees a flick towards Aguero strike the hand of Bellerin.

Sagna then finds Bony with a decent cross and the Ivorian striker hits the bar with a well-struck volley. So close.

Sanchez's free-kick is headed against the crossbar by Koscielny, who is subsequently flagged for offside.

Sagna then invites the ire of Aguero with a poor ball forward that trickles out for a goal kick.

Every outfield City player is currently camped in the Arsenal half, with the visitors more than happy to take a point back to north London. Toure and Bony fail to cause any danger and not even the admirably persistent Aguero can fashion a clear-cut chance.

A double change from City now as Toure and Wilfried Bony are sent on to replace Navas and Fernando.

Wenger was apparently planning to send on Cazorla before Sanchez's equaliser, but now uses his final change to swap Elneny for Francis Coquelin.

Pellegrini has also brought on Raheem Sterling for Iheanacho, who has endured an afternoon to forget.

City almost find their third goal. Aguero links up beautifully with De Bruyne, picking out his teammate before receiving the ball back via a delicate chip and hitting a first-time volley with his left foot that drifts narrowly wide of the post.

Gabriel has his name taken for a crude bodycheck on De Bruyne. The latter's whipped free-kick then misses Otamendi's head by centimetres before being tipped over by Cech.

Aguero looks to notch his second from the subsequent corner but can only fire a back-post volley wide.

Arsenal are back on level terms with just over 20 minutes left to play. Monreal finds Sanchez a little way into the City half and the Chilean takes advantage of the space available to build up ahead of steam and exchange a wonderful one-two with Giroud before lashing a right-footed shot past Hart.

Great goal and City will have to go again.

Goal: Manchester City 2-2 Arsenal (Alexis Sanchez)

More vital defending from Otamendi to stop Walcott's low cross from reaching Giroud. The Arsenal winger is beginning to cause a lot of problems for City now and only the onrushing Hart prevents him from grabbing the equaliser after impressive combination play from Elneny and Giroud.

City apply good pressure up the pitch but Arsenal find a way forward and Walcott wins a corner, much to the disgust of Mangala. Elneny's deep outswinger is picked up by Sanchez, who is prevented from getting a cross in by a good block from Sagna.

Giroud prepares to pull the trigger with a volley after a cross from Monreal, but an athletic piece of defending from Otamendi sees the Argentine clear with an overhead kick.

Wenger's second change of the afternoon sees Theo Walcott replace Iwobi. 30 minutes remaining for the Gunners to find an equaliser.

We should mention that Sanchez wanted a penalty before that second goal after having his arm pulled while jostling for position at a free-kick. There was also a clear shirt tug on Giroud that failed to pique the referee's interest.

City perhaps should be 3-1 ahead courtesy of a rapid Iheanacho break that sees the 19-year-old brush aside Monreal.

As Koscielny commits to closing him down, he should release Navas in space on his right but instead gets caught in two minds and a tame shot rolls harmlessly wide.

City retake the lead six minutes after the break through record-signing De Bruyne. After claiming possession and racing away from Bellerin, the Belgian international breezes past Elneny and is afforded too much space by Gabriel before producing a low strike that beats a sluggish Cech before nestling neatly in the bottom corner.

Goal: Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal (Kevin de Bruyne)

Navas sends Fernandinho through with a searching ball before the Brazilian midfielder blazes over the crossbar from a difficult angle.

Mangala is then fortunate to avoid a yellow card for heavy foul on Alexis Sanchez. Uncertain goalkeeping from Hart as he punches away the free-kick but Arsenal survive.

We are back underway now for what is a huge 45 minutes for City and their chances of qualifying for the Champions League. No further changes from either manager.

While we wait for the second half to commence, let's take a quick look at some of the tributes being paid to Pellegrini during his final game in charge at the Etihad before being succeeded by Guardiola.

The experienced Chilean has won one top-flight title and two League Cup trophies since being appointed as successor to Roberto Mancini on a three-year deal back in June 2013 and his calmness/composure and relatively gentle demeanour has often been a welcome antidote to more controversial personalities such as Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal.

We are level at the break after a breathless start to proceedings. City deservedly went ahead early on through Aguero, but some calamitous defending from Clichy and Mangala quickly allowed Arsenal to equalise and saw Giroud end his run of 16 Premier League outings without a goal.

If things stay like they are, then Arsenal will remain third and two points behind Tottenham heading into the final day. City, meanwhile, will hover just two above Manchester United and would drop out of the top four altogether if Louis van Gaal's side win at West Ham on Tuesday.

Half-time

Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal

Two minutes of added time signalled at the end of this first half. De Bruyne's latest effort is wild and way off target.

City break quickly following a wasted Arsenal free-kick awarded for a needless push from Nicolas Otamendi on Giroud.

Koscielny heads wide under pressure to concede a corner and De Bruyne then fails to test Cech with a cross/shot.

City continue to probe but Arsenal hold firm as De Bruyne's low cross is deflected into the hands of Cech. Referee Anthony Taylor briefly stops proceedings as Giroud falls heavily after coming off worse from an aerial tussle with Mangala and nurses a sore head.

The striker is immediately back to his feet and will not require any treatment.

Navas shows lovely skill to squeeze through the gap between Alex Iwobi and Nacho Monreal but is thwarted by a well-timed sliding challenge from Aaron Ramsey.

De Bruyne then stands up a ball to the back post that is nodded wide by Mangala.

Fernando picks up possession for City and shows good strength before trying to set Aguero free with a firm low pass. Cech comes racing off his line to meet the Argentine and just about clears the danger. That was a very nervy moment from the goalkeeper.

After receiving treatment, Welbeck comes back on and tries to continue but lasts just a matter of seconds before limping off and heading down the tunnel. His afternoon is over.

Another injury concern for Roy Hodgson ahead of England's Euro 2016 squad announcement on Thursday.

Wilshere comes on in his place and will hope to prove that he is worthy of a place in the 23-man travelling squad.

Concern now for Welbeck as he goes down clutching his right knee while swearing and shaking his head. He looked to hurt it during a tackle on Bacary Sagna.

It's important to note that it is not the same knee that required surgery and kept him out for 10 months between April-February.

Iheanacho tries to work the necessary space for a long-range effort but is tracked all the way by a determined Elneny.

Fernando makes good headway into the Arsenal penalty area and tees up Aguero for a powerful goal-bound strike that is crucially blocked by Gabriel. There are plenty more goals to come in this one, you feel.

What a frenetic start to this match. Just moments after taking the lead, City almost concede an immediate equaliser when Giroud's back-post cross is inadvertently headed by Clichy against the post with Joe Hart scrambling.

From the resulting corner, Giroud loses Mangala to power home a free header from close range. It's all square again and the Frenchman's 15-hour goal drought is finally over.

Goal: Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal (Olivier Giroud)

City have started like a train in Pellegrini's final home match and get their reward after just seven minutes. A short cross from Navas to the near post is headed down by Fernandinho to Aguero, who lets the ball drop before dispatching his 24th goal of the season past Mohamed Elneny and beyond Cech.

Goal: Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal (Sergio Aguero)

City win a corner and Jesus Navas combines with De Bruyne before whipping in a cross that is headed away from danger by Koscielny.

Giroud is penalised for a shirt pull on the rampaging Gael Clichy and Kevin de Bruyne's dangerous free-kick bounces in the penalty area before being scooped up by Petr Cech.

City continue to apply pressure and Aguero bursts through the Arsenal back four before flashing a low ball across the six-yard-box that goes safe. It's been a fast start by the hosts.

City begin on the front foot and an early miskick from Koscielny causes a brief moment of panic in the Arsenal backline.

We are underway at a sun-drenched Etihad. City are kicking from left to right in their usual light blue home shirts, while Arsenal are donning their gold and navy blue alternate strips.

Back to today's game, Arsenal are unbeaten against City in the last four meetings between the two clubs. Goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud secured a 2-1 home victory in December, while last January the Gunners won their first match at the Etihad since October 2010 courtesy of Cazorla and Giroud again.

That latter result ended City's 12-match unbeaten streak in the top-flight and saw them fall five points behind Chelsea in the title race.

Further bad news regarding Kompany's fitness is beginning to break across social media now.

According to multiple sources, Belgian physio Lieven Maesschalck has confirmed that the 30-year-old, beset by calf problems over recent years, will miss four months as a result of a thigh muscle tear. That would see him sidelined for the opening stages of Guardiola's reign at City.

An underfire Wenger, meanwhile, believes today's match is still highly significant as Arsenal seek to maintain their excellent record of Champions League qualification. Their final game of 2015/16 is at home to relegated Aston Villa.

Sunday's game is still important, even if Leicester are champions today and we are second best. It is still a very important game because part of the responsibility of being professional is to prepare the future. The future of Arsenal Football Club depends on this game.

There's a European Championship and there's a Copa America [in the summer]. To get our players back, we made a schedule. It's absolutely very difficult because the European Championship finishes on July 10. If you think that you have to give at least three to four weeks of holiday to the players who go to the end [of the tournament], that means they come back at the beginning of August.

Our target now is to secure a position in the Champions League next year. If possible, to get second place or at least secure third place. On Sunday we can achieve that. We still have two games, and if we win those two games we will be alright.

Here is what Pellegrini had to say ahead of the last home match of his three-year stint in charge at the Etihad. City finish the season away to Swansea City next weekend.

It's a special game because we finish here at home after three intensive years. We've always received support of the fans, so we're really happy with them. For me, the second season was the worst - if we can finish in third in this third season it wouldn't be extraordinary but still a good season. I will have emotions on Sunday but I prefer not to show them in an external way.

Maybe Arsene played the way he plays in the last two games against us. They let us have possession and they defended. I expect us to recover our attacking potential which was our problem against Real Madrid. I hope that on Sunday we can continue being a scoring team.

Manchester City vs Arsenal is not the only Premier League clash taking place today, with Europa League finalists Liverpool hosting Quique Sanchez Flores' Watford at 16.00 BST.

The early afternoon meeting between second-place Tottenham and Southampton at White Hart Lane has just finished 2-1 to the visitors after a brace from Steven Davis cancelled out Heung-Min Son's early opener. Such a result leaves Arsenal just three points adrift of their fierce rivals, who were still in contention for the title until a 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Monday night handed it on a plate to Leicester.

Surely they will not finish above them again?

The headline news from Arsenal's camp relates to Mesut Ozil, who misses out on selection today due to what the club have labelled as a "slight" hip injury.

His place in the starting XI is taken by Danny Welbeck, while Gabriel partners Laurent Koscielny in the absence of Mertesacker. Kieran Gibbs and Joel Campbell are both promoted to the bench, where they will sit alongside former long-term absentees Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla.

Two changes from Pellegrini to the side that failed to trouble Real Madrid, with Eliaquim Mangala deputising for Kompany and the lethargic Yaya Toure replaced by striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who will partner Sergio Aguero up front after his brace in the 4-2 defeat to Southampton.

Martin Demichelis comes onto the bench, as does 19-year-old Spanish left-back Angelino.

Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Elneny, Ramsey, Iwobi, Welbeck, Sanchez, Giroud

Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Coquelin, Wilshere, Cazorla, Campbell, Walcott

Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Otamendi, Mangala, Clichy, Fernando, Fernandinho, Navas, De Bruyne, Iheanacho, Aguero

Subs: Caballero, Angelino, Demichelis, Delph, Toure, Sterling, Bony

Official team news to follow very shortly...

Arsenal have been handed a fresh injury blow of their own this week, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has not featured since sustaining knee damage against Barcelona in February, having suffered a setback during training on Monday. A further absence of approximately six to eight weeks means he too has no chance at all of staking a claim for inclusion at Euro 2016.

Also set to miss the Gunners' final two matches is Per Mertesacker. The towering centre-back hurt his hamstring in the second half of a 1-0 victory over Norwich last weekend.

City's hugely underwhelming performance at the Santiago Bernabeu was compounded by yet another injury to captain Vincent Kompany, who confirmed yesterday that he would miss the rest of the season and Belgium's Euro 2016 campaign due to a thigh problem.

Playmaker David Silva remains absent with hamstring trouble, while Pablo Zabaleta has been ruled out for three weeks courtesy of a calf complaint. Aleksandar Kolarov will also miss out today.

Here is how the table looked before today's three matches. A second-half goal from Juan Mata saw United keep up their top-four chase with a painfully dull 1-0 victory away to relegation-threatened Norwich City yesterday, although West Ham's pursuit appears to be over following an uncharacteristically heavy defeat to Swansea City in their penultimate game at the Boleyn Ground.

The two teams meet in east London on Tuesday night. A win today means that Arsenal are assured to finish in at least third spot.

Good afternoon and welcome to IBTimes UK's live coverage of a potentially pivotal top-four battle between Premier League heavyweights Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

A victory for the third-place visitors today would seal Champions League qualification for the 20th year in a row, an impressive feat but one that is unlikely to quell growing unrest against Arsene Wenger that has resulted in muted protests against his stale leadership.

As for City, who meekly surrendered a place in their first major European final with a 1-0 semi-final second-leg defeat at Real Madrid in midweek, they appear in serious danger of being usurped by rivals Manchester United and leaving new boss Pep Guardiola without a place in Europe's elite club competition when he succeeds Manuel Pellegrini this summer.

Stay tuned for breaking team news, confirmed lineups and live updates throughout the afternoon. Kick-off is scheduled for 16.00 BST.