A sterling move down the park from the visitors to the Estadio Juan Carmelo Zerillo resulted in Franco Jara's 10th-minute goal, and it would be all Mauricio Pellegrino's men needed to join Colon on 15 points through eight matches.
Estudiantes number nine Guido Carrillo flicked a backheel down the left wing for Joaquin Correa to run onto, and the forward dribbled his way towards the edge of the penalty area before laying off a ball to Jara, who tucked away the goal confidently.
Tempers flared late in La Plata, as Gimnasia's Fernando Pereyra and Estudiantes substitute Patricio Rodriguez were both sent off in injury time.
Colon, meanwhile, slumped to their third consecutive draw to lose their points buffer at the helm of the table, as third side San Lorenzo held them to a 0-0 draw at home.
San Lorenzo could have usurped the leaders with a victory but remain within a point of the top after their third straight game unbeaten.
Velez Sarsfield entered the weekend just a point behind the leaders but a 3-1 loss away to Atletico Rafaela saw them slip to fourth spot and two points behind Colon and Estudiantes.
The league's highest scoring team with 14 goals in eight matches, Velez got some of their own medicine on Friday, as Atletico Rafaela put them to the sword via goals to Lucas Albertengo, Diego Vera and Federico Gonzalez.
Lucas Pratto scored a late consolation for Velez, who have alternated home wins with away losses for their past six league matches.
Lanus continued their good league form, rising to fifth on the table with a 1-0 home win over struggling Quilmes.
Jorge Pereyra Diaz struck the game's only goal on 74 minutes, to send Lanus to their fourth win in their past fixtures, leaving them level on points with Velez.
Newell's Old Boys are sixth, after they bounced back from a loss at Olimpo with a 2-0 win at home to bottom side Racing Club.
Ezequiel Ponce and David Trezeguet scored for Newell's, who are one of four teams on 12 points.
Newell's lead each of Godoy Cruz (seventh), Atletico Rafaela (eighth) and All Boys (ninth) on goal difference, while the backlog does not end there, with another four sides - Boca Juniors, Belgrano, Olimpo and River Plate - on 11 points.
River Plate could have been third with a win on the weekend, instead they sit in 13th spot after going down 3-2 away to All Boys.
Carlos Carbonero notched a brace for River Plate - who played nearly an hour with 10 men - but it was not enough as each of Gonzalo Espinoza, Agustin Torassa and Jonathan Calleri scored for All Boys.
In other results, Tigre were kept to a 0-0 draw at home to Godoy Cruz and Belgrano and Olimpo traded late goals in a 1-1 stalemate.
Rosario Central and Argentinos Juniors both scored late equalisers, to earn 1-1 draws on the road at Arsenal and Boca Juniors respectively.
