Essendon coach Matthew Knights has vented frustration over umpiring and his team's performance after the Bombers' downward spiral continued against Melbourne.

The Demons' 19.8 (122) to 14.19 (103) AFL win at the MCG on Sunday was their first win in six rounds and the Bombers' fifth loss in a row, following an 84-point rout by Adelaide last week.

Brad Green starred for the Dees with five goals, while Colin Sylvia returned superbly from a foot injury with two majors and 29 disposals and ruckman Mark Jamar (two goals) also shone.

The result could have been worse for Essendon, who kicked six of the last seven goals once the contest was decided, after trailing at one stage by 51 points.

The Bombers put in a terrible first half to trail by 32 points at the main break and Knights acknowledged that after a competitive first five minutes, they faltered badly.

"We certainly lost our way in all areas, whether that be our attitude and our attack on the ball and the body, or structurally," Knights said.

He also questioned the umpiring consistency, with seven 50m penalties leading directly to Melbourne goals.

While all of those were technically correct, all were for minor infringements and Knights suggested that strictness was not uniformly applied, saying Bombers skipper Jobe Watson missed out on a decision that could have gone his way.

"If it's going to be adjudicated with that strength, it has to be done consistently," he said.

"I've got no issue with the rule itself, if the player's illegal and he's over the mark, it's 50m, and we would have had three or four today, so we stick our hand up and say it's our business and our problem.

"But it's got to be on both sides of the ledger."

He planned to question umpires chief Jeff Gieschen over that issue, as well as two free kicks in the third term, which helped snuff out a Bombers revival, as Essendon produced by far their best patch of the match to climb within 12 points.

Essendon midfielder Sam Lonergan was desperately unlucky to be penalised for holding the ball in the centre square, after squeezing out a handball.

"He gets his arms free and handballs the ball, it's the same as if (Carlton captain) Chris Judd gets tackled, it's the same thing, they should be given the same leniency ... all you ask for as a coach is consistency," Knights said.

Travis Colyer gave up another free, which resulted in a goal to Melbourne's Jack Watts to stretch the margin to 18 points, after Watts missed an initial shot and the chasing Colyer made slight subsequent contact.

The Demons kicked seven of the next eight goals to wrap the game up.

But Knights refused to absolve his own players of blame, saying some slack defensive work, inaccuracy in front of goal and poor decisions with the ball in attack hurt badly.

"We just shoot ourselves in the foot for another week," he said.

Melbourne coach Dean Bailey was pleased with his side's fast start and their resistance when Essendon charged.

"It was important for us to win this game today, it was important for our members and supporters," he said.

"They've hung in there for two and a half years with us ... and a home game for us, so there was a lot of reasons for us to come out and win and play well."

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