Essendon has come from the clouds to pull off a dramatic one-point comeback win over Fremantle and keep their flickering finals hopes alive.

With their season on the line, the Bombers trailed by 25 points early in the fourth quarter at the MCG on Sunday afternoon before they pulled off a blistering run of five unanswered goals to take the lead.

BOMBERS v DOCKERS Full match coverage and stats

Jye Amiss drew the Dockers level from a free kick and superb goal with 36 seconds to play, but Zach Merrett burst forward from the subsequent centre clearance and handballed to Sam Durham, who kicked a point to deliver a 13.12 (90) to 14.5 (89) win.

Brad Scott's Bombers (ninth, 11-8-1) now sit two points outside the top eight with games against Gold Coast (Marvel Stadium), Sydney (Marvel Stadium) and Brisbane (the Gabba) to come.

The loss was particularly costly for Justin Longmuir's Dockers, who blew their chance to consolidate a top-four spot ahead of a brutal run home against fellow top-four contenders Geelong (Optus Stadium), GWS (Engie Stadium) and Port Adelaide (Optus Stadium).

It was the first time Fremantle (sixth, 12-1-7) had played Essendon at the MCG since 1999, with 34,381 fans on hand.

Dockers spearhead Josh Treacy went down holding his right knee after an aerial collision with Ben McKay in the fourth quarter, but he returned to play.

Essendon midfielder Jye Caldwell (32 disposals) continued his red-hot form, with help from Nic Martin (25 touches, two goals), Darcy Parish (34 disposals), Mason Redman (27 touches) and skipper Merrett.

Essendon dynamo Jake Stringer kicked four goals, with Jade Gresham adding three.

Fremantle midfielder Hayden Young booted two goals and racked up 28 disposals, alongside Andrew Brayshaw (33 disposals) and 100-gamer Caleb Serong (32 disposals).

Treacy (three goals), Jye Amiss (four), Luke Jackson (two) and Sam Sturt (two) all hit the scoreboard.

The Bombers started strongly and took a nine-point lead into the first break.

But in the second quarter, they failed to take their chances and Fremantle punished them to snatch a 13-point lead at half-time.

Stringer sparked Essendon with an overhead snap then a strong contested mark and goal midway through the third term.

The Dockers quickly responded to restore a 19-point lead at three-quarter time, but the Bombers found new life midway through the final term.

Martin kicked two goals either side of Nate Caddy's first major for the day before Gresham steered them in front.

Kyle Langford extended the lead before Amiss's late goal made for a thrilling finish.

Durham kicked his point on the run to nudge the Bombers back in front before Sam Draper took a huge contested mark to seal victory.

ESSENDON    5.4    6.6    8.9   13.12 (90)
FREMANTLE   4.1    9.1    12.4   14.5 (89)

GOALS
Essendon: Stringer 4, Gresham 3, Martin 2, Langford 2, Draper, Caddy
Fremantle: Amiss 4, Treacy 3, Young 2, Sturt 2, Jackson 2, Frederick

BEST 
Essendon: Merrett, Caldwell, Stringer, Parish, Redman, Martin
Fremantle: Young, Amiss, Brayshaw, Ryan, Serong, Clark

INJURIES 
Essendon: Nil
Fremantle: Nil

SUBSTITUTES 
Essendon: Alwyn Davey jnr (replaced Nick Bryan in the fourth quarter)
Fremantle: James Aish (replaced Neil Erasmus in the third quarter)

Crowd: 34,381 at the MCG