Manchester City have all but assured a place in next season's Champions League after picking up a 1-1 draw away at Swansea City.
The Citizens needed all three points to make certain of a top-four finish, but were made to settle for just the one as a deflected Andre Ayew free kick cancelled out Kelechi Iheanacho's opener.
A run of five games without a win in all competitions to end their campaign was not the way Manuel Pellegrini would have wanted to bow out after his three-year spell at the club, although it will be enough to see off the challenge from Manchester United.
Only an 18-goal win against Bournemouth will do for the Red Devils, meaning another season of Europa League football for Louis van Gaal and his men unless they produce a miracle in that re-arranged fixture.
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It took just five minutes before the visitors found a way through, as Sergio Aguero's saved shot was turned home by Iheanacho from close range.
The youngster, who now has eight goals to his name in this breakthrough campaign, initially had his celebrations cut short when the linesman appeared to flag for offside.
Replays showed that he remained onside, though, and referee Mike Dean felt likewise as he overruled his fellow official and allowed the early goal to stand.
More controversy was to follow in the opening quarter of the game when Jefferson Montero bundled the ball home at the back post, with Dean ruling the goal out after adjudging that the wideman illegally brought down Bacary Sagna when heading the ball.
Aguero - still in the running to finish as the division's top scorer at this stage - proved wasteful with a couple of half-chances as the game wore on, while Iheanacho's range was also off when blasting wide.
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Kristoffer Nordfeldt made a good stop with his legs to keep out Kevin de Bruyne's strike on the half-hour mark on his first league start for the Swans, but a lull in proceedings was to follow as the interval closed in.
The Citizens failed to hold out in the final seconds of the half, though, and Ayew's heavily-deflected free kick off Fernando left Joe Hart with little chance from the hosts' first real attempt of the contest.
Man City saw a couple of promising openings pass them by in the early stages of the second half; Eliaquim Mangala heading over the bar from five yards out and Iheanacho failing to adjust his body when a rebound fell right into his path.
Swansea were themselves looking to attack in search of a second goal, but it was Pellegrini's men who were creating the better chances, one of which Aguero dragged wide from eight yards out.
Neither side could muster any opportunities of note in a tame closing 30 minutes to the game, however, with both seemingly happy to settle for a point in the end.
It is very much job done for the visitors, who will have another campaign of Champions League football to look forward to as they usher in a new era under incoming boss Pep Guardiola this summer.
Daniel Lewis
