Barclays Premier League as it happened: Hull 1-3 Arsenal

Arsenal are now only third behind Manchester City by virtue of a slightly inferior goal difference and have a game-in-hand over their top-four rivals to be played against Sunderland later this month.

That second-half goal from Quinn means that Hull's goal difference is now equal to that of Leicester but they drop to 17th anyway as they have scored six goals less than the Foxes so far this season.

Next for Arsenal is a home fixture against Garry Monk's Swansea on 11 May, while Hull continue their quest for survival with a winnable home clash against rock-bottom Burnley.

That is it for this live blog, thanks for joining us. Goodnight.

A comfortable win for Arsenal, then, who have now scored more than 100 goals this season.

They were at their vintage best at times in the first half as a Hull side curiously lethargic after two impressive wins struggled to cope with their pace, passing and quality of movement.

The hosts were far more resilient after the break, however, and had chances to make it a more uncomfortable ending for Wenger's side who could perhaps be accused of letting their foot of the gas a little too quickly.

Ultimately, Bruce will probably be content with six points from tricky ties against Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Arsenal, but with Leicester and Sunderland both winning this weekend, the margin for error at the bottom of the table is preciously thin from here on out.

Full-time

Hull 1-3 Arsenal

Walcott sends a shot wide for Arsenal before they launch another attack courtesy of Cazorla.

This time it's Sanchez who runs at Dawson looking for his hat-trick, but his shot is dragged wide of Harper's right-hand post after Walcott had created a useful diversion.

Four minutes of added time signalled. Hull have made a relatively decent fist of this after a dismal first half, but surely a draw is now beyond them bar an eventful finish.

Theo Walcott is summoned by Wenger and comes on for Giroud.

Arsenal push forward through Bellerin, who combines well with Sanchez on the right before running onto a pass from Giroud. His shot is parried by Harper.

Wilshere's strike on the rebound is then blocked by what looked like a hand and Sanchez hits the side netting from a difficult angle.

Jelavic enters the fray at the expense of Hull goalscorer Quinn. There 10 minutes left for the Croatian striker to make a significant impact.

Meyler is now back on after that nasty wound is quickly patched up.

Cazorla has looked terrific for Arsenal tonight, yet he cannot add his name to the list of scorers after his volley from Ozil's cross is comfortably saved.

Sanchez's free-kick is deflected once more, but this time does not trouble Harper.

Hull fans were incensed that referee Lee Mason did not stop play before Wilshere's run after Meyler sustained a head injury following a coming together with Koscielny.

There is blood pouring from his face.

Encouraging for Arsenal and England fans alike to see Wilshere back after five months on the sidelines with ankle problems.

He has looked good in recent performances for the U21 side and was on the bench for top-flight games against Chelsea and Crystal Palace as well as the FA Cup semi-final against Reading at Wembley.

His first involvement is a surging run at the heart of the Hull backline which earns the Gunners a free-kick after a foul from Dawson.

That was Ramsey's last contribution of the evening as he jogs off to be replaced by Jack Wilshere who is making his first senior appearance since the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on November 22.

Another chance for Ramsey after a sumptuous flick from Olivier Giroud, but he loses composure at the vital moment and hacks wildly over.

Robertson is on for Hull in place of Aluko.

Hull come desperately close to grabbing another as Paul McShane rises high to power Elmohamady's header inches over the crossbar.

Damage limitation indeed. A real atmosphere builds around the KC Stadium for the first time tonight.

I spoke too soon, clearly, as Hull reduce the deficit. Meyler carries possession forward and the ball bounces to Elmohamady after he is tackled. The Egyptian then crosses for Quinn, who heads past Ospina.

Goal: Hull 1-3 Arsenal (Stephen Quinn)

Damage limitation for Hull already now, you would think. As it stands, they have already dropped below Leicester to 17th on goal difference and at -16 they are only five better off than Sunderland in that regard.

Ramsey looks to make it 4-0 after exchanging passes with Cazorla but his awkward half-volley fails to hit the target.

The second half is now underway. Can Hull prevent a bad evening from getting a whole lot worse? Arsenal have looked rampant and will likely fancy their chances of adding to this healthy lead.

One substitution for Hull, with Meyler returning from suspension to replace Livermore. A 45 minutes to forget for the former Tottenham man, who was booked and cheaply gave away the free-kick that led to the opener.

Excellent from Arsenal. Wenger's side, led by Cazorla and Ramsey, have played some wonderful football in that opening half and Hull simply do not have an answer.

The hosts have had one or two bright moments themselves courtesy of Brady and Elmohamady, but they are yet to test Ospina. They will have to tighten up considerably after the break to avoid humiliation here.

Half-time

Hull 0-3 Arsenal

Arsenal look unstoppable and they make it three after Ramsey is afforded ample time to find Sanchez, who times his run between the Hull centre-back's to perfection before rounding Harper and firing into an empty net.

No coming back now for the hosts, surely.

Goal: Hull 0-3 Arsenal (Alexis Sanchez)

A fine sequence of passing football from Arsenal involving Cazorla, Ramsey, Sanchez and Ozil ends with German firing tamely at Harper. That was a lovely flowing move and deserved a better finish.

Cazorla then picks out the run of Sanchez with yet another great pass but the former Barcelona forward is thwarted as Harper rushes out to block his attempted chip.

A chance for N'Doye as Huddlestone finds him with a low free-kick but he fires wide with the offside flag raised.

Mertesacker is alert to block an Elmohamady cross and it remains 2-0.

Hull can count themselves unlucky that both Arsenal goals have come via the help of hefty deflections, yet in truth they only really have themselves to blame after affording their opponents far too much time and space to run.

N'Doye looks to set up a rare home attack after beating Bellerin to the ball on the left-hand side but he can't pick out Aluko with a cross with the outside of his right boot.

Things unravelling rather quickly for Hull now as Arsenal double their advantage after 33 minutes.

The deep-lying Cazorla expertly picks out the run of Ramsey with a superb long ball forward and the Welshman, recovered from his earlier knock, spins and shoots. His effort strikes covering defender Brady and goes in.

Goal: Hull 0-2 Arsenal (Aaron Ramsey)

Arsenal take the lead as Sanchez's free-kick takes a big deflection off the head of Michael Dawson in the Hull wall and flies past the stranded Harper.

Goal: Hull 0-1 Arsenal (Alexis Sanchez)

Ramsey is back on but that clearly hurt him. Meanwhile, Huddlestone is robbed in possession by Ozil before Livermore, already on a yellow card, trips Sanchez on the edge of the box.

Free-kick to Arsenal.

Concern for Ramsey here after he comes off much worse from a collision with Huddlestone. He receives attention on the field before limping off gingerly for further treatment.

A real opportunity for Hull goes begging.

A cross from Elmohamady finds it way out to Robbie Brady, who sends in a delightful ball to Sone Aluko but the Nigerian international gets his header all wrong and Arsenal clear their lines.

Hull are gifted a free-kick in a promising position on the left-hand side after Per Mertesacker fouls Stephen Quinn. Coquelin clears the subsequent delivery and passes to Mesut Ozil but a promising attacking break from the Gunners fizzles out as they fail to find that all important final ball.

N'Doye then sends a shot well wide in an attempt to catch Ospina off his line.

A first foray forward for Hull as the speedy Elmohamady outpaces Monreal and sends in a looping cross that is claimed by Ospina.

Arsenal waste little time getting the ball forward and Sanchez beats three defenders before his shot is saved by Harper.

A slightly hairy moment for Tom Huddlestone as he casually flicks a leg at Hector Bellerin's cross and watches the ball speed into the arms of Steve Harper.

Cazorla is looking to dictate play on the edge of the Hull penalty area but his initial shot is blocked and he is eventually crowded out.

Hull whip a free-kick into the Arsenal box from distance and David Ospina clatters teammate Francis Coquelin as he punches clear.

The French midfielder is down and receiving treatment.

Arsenal, as you might expect, dominating possession from the first whistle and Ramsey sends a tentative effort wide after a cross from Nacho Monreal.

Arsenal get us underway at the KC Stadium.

His Hull counterpart has been quick to stress the need for defensive resilience in the face of the Premier League's third-highest scorers....

We know we're going to have to be at our best. We'll have to defend well because Arsenal have such an array of attacking talent and that always makes it a difficult game.

They've been on a run of late so we will have to play well. But, we've just had two games where our players have performed to their maximum - and just at the right time.

We, too, have found a little bit of form. Where that has come from – I'd like to be able to bottle the reason and point to it as being the answer but it isn't as easy as that. We need to show it again on Monday.

Wenger is expecting a big challenge from Hull tonight, wary of their recent form as they scrap for survival. Here is what he told Arsenal's official website over the weekend...

They had two great performances when they were in quite a bad situation, but they had two amazing results. They've just beaten Liverpool at home, so we are warned that we will face a big challenge there.

It looks like they will stay up with their last two results. They have made a major step. It's very difficult to predict who will go down because I personally don't know. It looks very, very tight. Up to 35 points, everybody can have fear [of going down].

A little over 15 minutes remaining until kick-off...

A special achievement for Koscielny tonight...

Hull raced out to an early two-goal lead in that final after efforts from James Chester and Curtis Davies, but Santi Cazorla and Laurent Koscielny hit back before Ramsey's decisive late intervention.

The Gunners needed a stoppage-time goal from Welbeck to secure a point when the Tigers visited the Emirates Stadium in October, meanwhile. Mohamed Diame and Abel Hernandez - neither of whom start tonight - had put Bruce's side 2-1 ahead after Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring.

Arsenal won both league fixtures between these two clubs last season without conceding a goal.

Arsenal were on an eight-match winning run before their goalless draw at Chelsea on 26 April and they have also progressed through to their second consecutive FA Cup final after a somewhat fortunate win over Reading at Wembley.

They are the holders of that particular trophy, of course, having ended their nine-year silverware drought against tonight's opponents in May 2014 courtesy of an extra-time winner from Aaron Ramsey.

Both starting lineups are unchanged, but the hosts have made three alterations to their bench as David Meyler, Nikica Jelavic and Andrew Robertson all return.

Tomas Rosicky and Gabriel are listed among the substitutes for Arsenal, with Danny Welbeck absent with a knee injury and Mathieu Debuchy also dropping out.

Hull: Harper, McShane, Chester, Dawson, Elmohamady, Quinn, Livermore, Huddlestone, Brady, Aluko, N'Doye

Subs: McGregor, Rosenior, Robertson, Bruce, Meyler, Hernandez, Jelavic

Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud

Subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Gabriel, Flamini, Wilshere, Rosicky, Walcott

Good evening and welcome to IBTimes UK's coverage of the final Premier League match of this bank holiday weekend between Hull City and Arsenal at the KC Stadium.

Third-place Arsenal's incredibly slim hopes of winning the 2014/15 title have now been permanently extinguished following Chelsea's typically efficient 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace yesterday, but the Gunners will still hope to cap an encouraging few months - Champions League last 16 exit aside - by finishing as runners-up.

They trail Manchester City by three points following the latter's 1-0 victory at Tottenham, but will still have a game-in-hand to play even after this evening's match.

For Hull, meanwhile, every remaining fixture this term is crucial as they seek to avoid a return to the second tier of English football for the first time since 2013.

Many were quick to write them off weeks ago due to a formidably difficult run-in, yet consecutive wins away to Crystal Palace and at home to Liverpool have helped to inspire a real belief that they can retain their top-flight status.

Steve Bruce's side are 16th at the start of play, but are now just one point clear of trouble owing to Sunderland's win over Southampton and Leicester's triumph against Newcastle.

Team news and live updates on the way very shortly....