The victory (2-1) at Lille’s home, on Sunday, prolonged the good moment that Lyon is going through. Paulo Fonseca’s team left the mastiffs along the way in the French Cup, adding the fifth consecutive victory on a night in which the spotlight was focused on Endrick. The Brazilian prodigy made his debut for Olympique, as a starter, and it could hardly have gone better: in the 42nd minute, he scored the final 2-1.
Before, however, another young man had already shone through goneone who also speaks the language of Camões. Not a minute into the game when Afonso Moreira took advantage of a miscommunication between the Lille goalkeeper and a teammate to open the scoring. In doing so, the Portuguese winger scored his 10th direct participation in a goal — five scored and five offered — this season, an unequivocal sign of the preponderance he has been gaining at Lyon.
A scenario that, in truth, was difficult to foresee at the start of the season. Hired from Sporting, still in July, in exchange for 2 million euros, the 20-year-old winger’s performance is turning the investment into a real bargain and even the coach himself, Paulo Fonseca, has already admitted to being surprised.
«Afonso has evolved a lot. It is very important that we watch his progression. I have to say that when we started, I didn’t expect this level of performance at this stage. He did things I hoped to see in the future. Maybe he was the player who surprised me the most”, said the Portuguese coach, in December, in an interview with the club’s channels.
And Afonso’s cadence has been increasing. The striker’s 10 goal contributions came in less than 1000 minutes played (999′, to be more precise) and, in the last seven matches in which he participated, he only failed to score or assist in two. Furthermore, Sunday’s goal against Lille put Moreira in the top-10 of Portuguese players with the most decisive actions in 2025/26, counting those who play in the 10 main European leagues.
It will come as no surprise that Roberto Martínez has already written down Afonso Moreira’s name in his notebook. For now, the winger is looking to cement his presence in Luís Freire’s under-21 squad, but if he keeps up the pace, who knows if a step up could be in the works in the near future…
