Essendon produced a scintillating attacking first-half display to take a big step towards finals footy with an 18-point victory over fellow top-eight hopefuls Adelaide at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.

With the two sides occupying seventh and eighth coming into the contest, the result was always going to have major top eight repercussions, with Essendon leapfrogging Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda up to fifth on the ladder with the 17.13 (115) to 15.7 (97) win.

For the Crows, the defeat sees them slip outside the top eight to ninth spot after Geelong's victory over North Melbourne earlier on Sunday.

Essendon's triumph was set up by a thrilling first half where it generated 21 scores for 12 goals from 40 inside 50s, racing to a 37-point half-time lead which they preserved in the second half against the second-best offence in the competition who kept on coming.

The Bombers' first-half dominance was underlined by 70 more disposals (232-152), mostly uncontested, and 22 more inside 50s (40-18) before half-time.

Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish were outstanding in midfield with 39 disposals each, while Peter Wright was a handful for Adelaide's defence all game, finishing with three goals with a game-high 10 score involvements.

Kyle Langford also booted three goals, taking his season tally to 32.

Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Jayden Laverde were strong in defence, restricting Coleman Medal leader Taylor Walker to two goals, while Dyson Heppell was exceptional in the second half as Adelaide tried to rally.

The Bombers raced out of the blocks in a blistering start, with dashing half-back Mason Redman kicking truly from 55m within 25 seconds with the Bombers' trademark rebound on full show. In fact, Essendon booted five goals from eight inside 50s within the first 12 minutes of the game, fuelled by an early 7-1 centre clearance dominance, with Merrett's long-range goal among that span.

But after Essendon opened up a 27-point lead following Nic Martin's set shot goal, the Crows hit back with four of the next five, with Walker's high-flying mark over Heppell setting up Riley Thilthorpe's major.

Matt Guelfi's late snap helped Essendon claim a 17-point quarter-time lead and record its highest-ever first-quarter score against the Crows with 7.6.

The sides went goal for goal early in the second with Guelfi's brilliant smother leading to Ben Hobbs' composed snap from the next stoppage, only for round 17 Rising Star nominee Luke Pedlar to quickly respond with a classy finish for his second.

Wright added his second from his fifth shot on goal after some precise team ball movement before Jye Menzie caught Rory Sloane holding the ball to convert with the Dons holding a 37-point half-time lead.

It seemed like party time had begun for Essendon when Jake Stringer goaled from the boundary line early in the last but Adelaide kept coming, stringing together three in a row to close within 24 points after Izak Rankine's second, also from a tough angle.

But Langford added his third and Martin grabbed another to seal the points for the Bombers, although the Crows managed the last three goals to ease the percentage blow, which may come into calculations ahead of September.

ESSENDON   7.6    12.9    14.13    17.13 (115)
ADELAIDE    5.1    7.2      9.5       15.7 (97)

GOALS
Essendon: Wright 3, Langford 3, Menzie 2, Guelfi 2, Martin 2, Redman, Merrett, Hobbs, Kelly, Stringer
Adelaide: Pedlar 2, Keays 2, Rankine 2, Walker 2, Thilthorpe, McHenry, Fogarty, Jones, Smith, Sloane, Murphy

BEST
Essendon: Parish, Merrett, Wright, McGrath, Zerk-Thatcher, Heppell, Laverde
Adelaide: Laird, O'Brien, Dawson, Hinge, Smith

INJURIES
Essendon: Ridley (knee)
Adelaide: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Dylan Shiel (replaced Jordan Ridley in the third quarter)
Adelaide: Harry Schoenberg (replaced Jake Soligo in the third quarter)

Crowd: 39,606 at Marvel Stadium

ESSENDON   7.6    12.9    14.13    17.13 (115)
ADELAIDE    5.1    7.2      9.5       15.7 (97)

INJURIES
Essendon: Ridley (knee)
Adelaide: TBC

SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Dylan Shiel (replaced Jordan Ridley in the third quarter)
Adelaide: Harry Schoenberg (replaced Jake Soligo in the third quarter)

Crowd: 39,606 at Marvel Stadium