Check how many times specific value in array PHP

Hi E's,
I have this code to check how many times specific value appears in php array:

$number = count(array_filter($arr_geral,function($a) {return $a=="some text example";}));   

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That code work if I put the text inside, but don't work if I put a varible:

$text = "some text example";
$number = count(array_filter($arr_geral,function($a) {return $a==$text;})); 

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What changes I have to do, for the above code work with a variable?
The best regards,
JC