With the weight of relegation off his shoulders, Paul Hart named an attacking line up with Peter Crouch, John Utaka and Kanu forming a three-pronged attack whilst Asmir Begovic made his Pompey debut because of David James' shoulder surgery.
The first half was absolute dross apart from two major moments. Crouch headed against the crossbar early on and the ball was somehow scrambled away whilst Kenwyne Jones' effort hit the post and bounced to safety after Hayden Mullins had bottled an earlier challenge.
The only other highlight of the half was both sets of fans taunting Alan "Scummer" Shearer and his team that most neutrals would be happy to see be relegated to the Championship.
(I'm personally not too bothered either way but I think this division will be easier next season if Hull stayed with us rather than the Toon because there is a much better chance of the Tigers struggling next season than Newcastle.)
Before the start of the second half Paul Hart changed things by taking off the ineffective Kanu and Richard Hughes who was suffering from illness and replaced them with the returning Armand Traore and Younes Kaboul.
That tactical switch changed a boring game into a very lively and open one. Pompey now had the right balance in the side and plenty of pace to trouble shaky Sunderland.
Chances were being created and we were dominant in possession in a way that this team were back in the early days of Tony Adams' reign but then another of Adams' features dealt a blow to Pompey.
With too many players up top Sunderland broke quickly and Callum Davenport had the time to run down the wing and cross for Kenwyne Jones who tapped in the opening goal.
Thankfully, that lead lasted barely a minute as some poor defending from the Black Cats allowed John Utaka to shrug off the challenge of Davenport and slot in his first goal of the season. It was a controversial one too, as it seems Alan Wiley blew his whistle before the goasl was scored and looked to have signalled for a Sunderland free kick and yet he still gave the goal.
That decision may have riled the supporters in the away section but in my view it was a perfectly good goal and so if Wiley disallowed it there would have been even more fury to face from the Pompey fans.
The Black Cats seemed to fall apart after that as Anton Ferdinand's gaffe allowed Utaka to run straight on goal and round Marton Fulop but before he could pull the trigger Phil Bardsley slid in and the ball rolled into his own net.
Ricky Sbragia urged his side forward after that setback and they had chances to level through Richardson's long range effort and Cisse's angled drive that went just wide.
Kenwyne Jones wasted the visitors' best opportunity as his free header went straight into the arms of Begovic and moments later the game was up as Pompey counter-attacked and Armand Traore drilled in his first goal for the club on his final Fratton Park appearance.
However, the biggest cheer didn't come until stoppage time because with the game safe, Paul Hart replaced Peter Crouch with Linvoy Primus to an almighty roar from the Fratton Park crowd that matched the cheers of those during the AC Milan match.
There was a huge cheer every time he touched the ball as Pompey saw out the win that saw them climb to 41 points in the league whilst ensuring Sunderland face a nervy final day at home to Chelsea.
The Pompey players came out to do a lap of appreciation which the vast majority of the home supporters stayed to applaud. They then disappeared down the tunnel one last time this season and for some, the last time of their lives.
Credit goes to Paul Hart for changing things at half time to finally give the Pompey fans something to shout about. I was particularly impressed with how Asmir Begovic performed on his debut and how lively Armand Traore looked when coming on.
The main talking point will be about John Utaka after he looked like a handful when played in his natural position up front alongside Crouch. Like many, I think it was too little, too late but he may convince me and some others with a similar performance against Wigan next week.
I'm happy that I went home smiling last night but by the time most of us go to Fratton Park again I expect there will be many changes. But will they be for the better?
Pompey Player Ratings
Asmir Begovic: 7 - Impressive debut.
Glen Johnson: 6 - Had no width to work with for most of the game.
Sol Campbell: 7 - Possible farewell performance was a strong one.
Sylvain Distin: 7 - Looks to have put mid-season disaster behind him.
Hermann Hreidarsson: 6 - Steady as always.
Richard Hughes: 6 - Got stuck in until subbed at half-time.
Hayden Mullins: 6 - "No frills" performance.
Sean Davis: 6 - Solid game.
Kanu: 5 - Not involved for most of the first half.
John Utaka: 8 - If only he could play like this all the time...
Peter Crouch: 6 - Linked up play well but hasn't scored for quite a while now.
Substitutes
Jamie Ashdown
Linvoy Primus: (Crouch 90): N/A - Just fantastic to see him on the pitch again.
Younes Kaboul (Hughes 46): 6 - Did what was needed.
Nadir Belhadj
Armand Traore (Kanu 46): 7 - Changed the game in our favour.
Angelos Basinas
David Nugent