Wayne Rooney Criticizes On-Pitch Guard of Honour for Silva

The Etihad was supposed to be a stage for goodbyes. Instead, it became a flashpoint.

With John Stones and Bernardo Silva both set to leave Manchester City at the end of their contracts, the club chose Sunday to start the long goodbye to two pillars of the Pep Guardiola era. Between them, they have given City two decades of service, helped define a dynasty and reshaped what dominance in English football looks like.

So on the hour mark, with the game against Aston Villa still alive, the fourth official’s board went up. Silva walked towards the touchline. Players from both sides formed a guard of honour. The stadium rose to salute a playmaker who has lit up the Etihad for nine years.

The gesture was emotional. It was also, in Wayne Rooney’s eyes, completely out of place.

Speaking on BBC Sport’s Match of the Day, Rooney did not hide his frustration at the decision to stage the tribute while the contest was still unfolding.

“It’s incredible, I’ve seen a few things this season, and it just makes me sad that some of these things are happening in football,” he said. “Bernardo Silva, John Stones have been incredible for Manchester City and they deserve it, but do it after the game. If I was in that Aston Villa team, I’d be fuming.”

Rooney’s point cut to something more fundamental than sentiment. This was not a testimonial, not a farewell friendly. It was a competitive fixture against a Villa side who have spent the season refusing to play the supporting role for anyone.

The guard of honour briefly turned the spotlight away from the contest and onto City’s departing heroes. For a visiting dressing room, that kind of mid-game ceremony can feel like an insult, a suggestion that they are extras in someone else’s script.

Villa didn’t play along.

Ollie Watkins, ruthless and relentless, tore up the farewell narrative with a brace that sealed a 2-1 win and left City’s celebrations feeling hollow. On a day framed as a tribute to loyalty and longevity, it was the away striker who stole the result and the headlines.

Silva and Stones, so often at the heart of Guardiola’s control, could not bend this game to their will one last time. Guardiola himself is also closing the book on a decade in Manchester, another giant preparing for his own exit from the Etihad stage. The symbolism was heavy. The scoreline was not kind.

City wanted a send-off soaked in nostalgia and victory. They got applause, a guard of honour and a stinging defeat instead — and a blunt reminder from Rooney that in elite football, respect for opponents should never step aside, even for legends.