Thomas Aiken birdied the final hole of the day to join Paul Waring at the top of the Nordea Masters leaderboard, heading into the fourth and final round in Sweden.
South African Aiken had looked to have blown his good work after three consecutive bogies from 15 to 17 left him only 2 under for the day, but rallied on the 18th to make a birdie and move 12 under overall.
In another late twist, Englishman Waring, who had shared the halfway lead with Scott Jamieson, bogeyed the final hole to finish 1 under for the day.
The pair are three shots clear of Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen, who carded a 3-under-par-67 and needs a win in Gothenburg to secure an automatic spot in Europe's Ryder Cup team.
Olesen is joined in a tie for third place by Marc Warren, after the Scot finished 4 under for the day to move to 9-under-par overall.
Elsewhere, Jamieson blew his halfway lead after a round of 75. The Scot made seven bogeys, more than he had made in his previous two rounds combined, to drop to 5 under.
Martin Kaymer, the defending champion, also had a disappointing day and is no longer in contention after shooting 5 over to drop to 1 under overall.