Late goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Nicolas Pepe kept Arsenal's slim European hopes alive, beating Crystal Palace 3-1 in Roy Hodgson's final Selhurst Park game
However, Arsenal can now only finish in the Europa Conference League, with a Europa League finish now out of their reach
Hodgson was given a guard of honour by both sides ahead of kick-off, but the niceties ended there
 The game was a feisty affair as Arsenal chased a much-needed win to give them a glimmer of hope for European football next season
Both sides saw openings in the first half, although few ended up on target
 In fact, Arsenal scored with their only shot on target as Pepe (35) superbly turned home Kieran Tierney's cross
Arsenal looked content to ride out the second half but, after a few near misses, Christian Benteke finally headed home in the 62nd minute after another pinpoint free-kick from Andros Townsend
Arsenal created very little after the equaliser but, somehow, scrambled the ball home late on as Martinelli (90+1) steered Martin Odegaard's pass over the line
 Pepe (90+5) then wrapped up a vital three points for Arsenal, who still face an uphill battle to secure a European place next season
Arsenal are ninth on 58 points, one behind Tottenham in seventh with Everton sandwiched in the middle
 If they fail to secure European football on the final day of the season, they would be without a European spot for the first time in 25 years
For Hodgson, it was a disappointing end to an otherwise spirited performance as he bid farewell to the Selhurst Park crowd for the final time ahead of his departure at the end of the season
 Crystal Palace remain in 13th
Both sides had openings in the first ten minutes
 Vicente Guaita was forced into a stretching save as Calum Chambers' cross searched for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the middle
 Smith Rowe then attempted something similar, this time aiming for Bukayo Saka, but no one was able to turn it home
 At the other end, Gary Cahill sent a header just wide of the post
In the middle of the half at it was Crystal Palace who continued to threaten
 James Tomkins nodded goalwards from a Townsend corner, but Bernd Leno was down to save
 It was another Townsend set-piece that saw Benteke nod over on the 30-minute mark before Jeffrey Schlupp's fierce drive forced another fingertip save from Leno
Arsenal took the lead soon after with some sensational play from Saka and Tierney down the left
 It included a sublime backheel from Saka to send Tierney into space for a cross, which Pepe turned home wonderfully with his first touch
Palace survived two first-half VAR checks for red cards too
 The first came inside five minutes as Schlupp was checked after a challenge on Chambers, but came away with a booking
 It was a similar story for Benteke towards the end of the half after catching Mohamed Elneny in the chin with his elbow, but after a brief melee, it was a yellow card apiece for the pair
The opening 15 minutes of the second half was a mostly quiet affair as Arsenal looked to preserve their lead, but their defences were breached just after the hour
 Townsend delivered another fine free-kick and Benteke peeled away before leaping a header past Leno
 VAR checked it for a foul from the striker in the build-up, but the goal stood
Both sides had half chances as the game continued, but a late one-two from Arsenal saw them depart with all three points
 Odegaard's ball into the area was bundled over the line from close range by Martinelli, with VAR allowing the goal to stand after a brief check
Pepe's second of the even sealing the victory
 Pepe drove into the area, taking on all comers and riding a few challenges, but driving the ball into the far corner
The Arsenal forward has not always shown his best, but he was key for his team when they need a creative spark
 His first goal was well taken and once made a driving run at the Palace defence, it resulted in another good goal
Both of his shots on target in the game resulted in goals and he was also involved in the most duels (14) of the Arsenal team
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said of his player: "I'm very encouraged and positive to think that way for two reasons
 One, because he's come a long way, in terms of consistency of what he's producing in games
 Not only in the Premier League but what he's done in Europe this season
"And the second one, because of his serious mindset
 He wants to look at every action, he wants to look at every post-match reflection we do with him individually
 He wants to work and he wants to be the best
 And when that happens and he has the talent that he has, I think it's a really good mixture
" "I'm a bit drained I suppose, it's been such a fantastic couple of days
 I've been really quite knocked over by all the kind words and everything that happened here tonight, and yet I've seen us lose a game in the last four or five minutes in which we were good value for at least a point
"The football part of me still feels that, but I know that I should be seeing the bigger picture and celebrating the reception that I got - the guard of honour, I've never seen that happen before, the reception from the fans and what's more, the performance the players gave me, especially in the second half when we really took the game to Arsenal and it looked as though we were capable of scoring against them
"I hope when the dust settles, I'll have a happier feeling about what happened here tonight, but one thing I certainly will never forget is the reception that I've been given or all the incredibly nice things that have been said about my career
 I suppose that does count for more than 90 minutes at the end of the day
"I thought Arsenal started well and we weren't getting as close to them or stopping them in the way we would like, but we certainly did in the second half
 I thought we were in control for large periods of the game so that makes the actual defeat a tough pill to swallow
"I've got no regrets at all for the performance and I'm full of praise for the players in light of what they've had to deal with over the last couple of days
" "It was a crucial moment because we wanted to go into the final day with every chance to be in Europe next season
 In order to do that we knew we had to win today and wait for some results, and with the way the game was developing, we were running out of time and it looked difficult
 But at the end we found a way to do it
"You saw me on the touchline
 I'm so happy
 When you're able to win a game in the last minute, it's always really pleasing because it shows the team how much they want it and [how much they] believe up to the last whistle, so really good
"We have to handle that situation [on Sunday]
 If somebody were to say to us in November or December that we could be in the position that we're in to have the chance in the last game to qualify for Europe, we'd have said you're crazy, but we've done it
 I think what ourselves and the number of points that we've managed to get in those months, we have earned the right to be in that position
 Now it's time to deliver on the final day, but unfortunately, it's not in our hands
"Crystal Palace's final Premier League game of the season - and Hodgson's last game in charge - will be a trip to Liverpool on Sunday
 Arsenal host Brighton in their last shot at a potential European finish
 All Premier League games on Sunday will kick-off at 4pm
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