Rodri ceremony appears to delay kick-off for Man City vs Tottenham

Today at 01:03 PM

Manchester City’s clash with Tottenham kicked off late after Rodri’s Ballon d’Or presentation.

The midfielder showed off the award to the crowd at the Etihad Stadium prior to kick-off.

With his name draped across the pitch and on lights behind him, he waved to supporters as part of a lavish pre-match ceremony which began ten minutes before kick-off.

Rodri was named this year’s winner of the prestigious award last month at a ceremony in Paris.

The 28-year-old finished ahead of Real Madrid pair Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham in the voting.

He was rewarded for winning the Premier League, Club World Cup and Euros in a successful season with club and country.

Rodri also scored nine goals and provided 14 assists from midfield for City in 50 appearances across all competitions.

Saturday’s visit of Spurs was City’s first at home since the ceremony.

After Rodri had been presented with the award in front of the crowd, the players finally emerged from the tunnel.

However, he then reappeared for a guard of honour from his team-mates before embracing manager Pep Guardiola.

The Spaniard did not leave the pitch until 5.30pm, the scheduled kick-off time for the match.

Once he had left the field, Spurs walked towards their travelling fans for a pre-match huddle to further delay the start.

Referee John Brooks eventually got the match started at 5.31pm, one minute later than scheduled.

Rodri is currently sidelined for City after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament against Arsenal in September.

He has since undergone surgery on the injury but is expected to miss the rest of the season as a result.

In his absence, City have lost their last four matches in all competitions, including a Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Spurs.

Meanwhile, league defeats to Bournemouth and Brighton have seen the champions slip five points behind leaders Liverpool.