Collingwood moved to within half a game of the AFL top four when they beat Adelaide by 32 points at the MCG.

The 15.16 (106) to 11.8 (74) result was the Crows' fourth-straight loss and they look to have lost forward Brett Burton for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Jason Porplyzia was also sidelined for most of the game after hurting his shoulder.

Collingwood midfielder Rhys Shaw had 32 disposals and Paul Medhurst kicked 5.5 after a poor start, while Burton kicked four goals in the first half.

The Crows will now limp into next Sunday's Showdown against Port Adelaide and could drop out of the top eight if they lose again.

The Magpies are now half a game behind fourth-placed Sydney, who will play Hawthorn on Sunday.

Adelaide dominated early, kicking the first three goals of the match to lead by 16 points.

Collingwood slowly worked their way back into the match, but Travis Cloke missed a set shot on the siren and the Crows led by nine points at the first change.

Porplyzia appeared to dislocate his shoulder early in the first term.

Despite losing Porplyzia, Adelaide were looking ominous and they threatened to blow the game apart when they kicked the first three goals of the second term.

But their 28-point lead only lasted a minute, before Ben Johnson goaled to give the Magpies a badly-needed steadier.

While Collingwood increased their workrate and reorganised their matchups, a silly mistake from Medhurst cost them a goal.

Medhurst was only a few metres out when he played on and hit the post.

He redeemed himself four minutes later with his first goal of the match and less than a minute later, Travis Cloke soccered another through to reduce the margin to just 10 points.

Burton temporarily stopped the surge with his third goal of the quarter, but a superb snap from Dale Thomas and John Anthony's accurate kick from a set shot reduced the margin to three points at half-time.

Anthony's second goal, eight minutes into the third term, gave the 'Pies the lead for the first time in the game.

Shortly after, Burton's left knee crumpled as he was chasing the ball and he was stretchered from the field.

Collingwood kicked three unanswered goals during the third quarter to lead by 16 points at the last change.

They kicked two goals early in the final term to ensure the win.

Adelaide did not kick a goal from 24 minutes into the second term until 15 minutes into the last.

In that time, the Magpies had converted a 16-point deficit into a 30-point lead.

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