update 2 dimensional array PHP - php

Question

I made a 2 dimensional array which checks if 3 of the same values are equal to each other.
My problem is that when the code detects 3 in a row it changes values, but it doesn't update to the original array ($aww_ar).
Is there a way to do this?
Code:
<?php
$aww_ar = array();
echo"<table>";
for($y = 0; $y < 6; $y++){
echo"<tr>";
for($x = 0; $x < 6; $x++){
$randomise = rand(1,4);
$aww_ar[$x][$y] = "<td>".$randomise."</td>";
echo $aww_ar[$x][$y];
}
echo"</tr>";
}
echo"</table>";
$counter = 0;
for ($h=0; $h < count($aww_ar); $h++) {
for ($u=0; $u < count($aww_ar[0]); $u++) {
if($aww_ar[$h][$u] == $aww_ar[$h][$u-1] && $aww_ar[$h][$u] == $aww_ar[$h][$u+1]){
$counter++;
$aww_ar[$h][$u] = 'X';
$aww_ar[$h][$u+1] = 'X';
$aww_ar[$h][$u-1] = 'X';
echo $aww_ar[$h][$u];
echo $aww_ar[$h][$u+1];
echo $aww_ar[$h][$u-1];
}
}
}
echo $counter;

Answer 1

It might be related to Passing By Reference
for ($h = 0; $h < count($aww_ar); $h++) {
for ($u = 0; $u < count($aww_ar[0]); $u++) {
if ($aww_ar[$h][$u] == $aww_ar[$h][$u - 1] && $aww_ar[$h][$u] == $aww_ar[$h][$u + 1]) {
$aww_ar[$h][$u] = 'X';
$aww_ar[$h][$u + 1] = &$aww_ar[$h][$u];
$aww_ar[$h][$u - 1] = &$aww_ar[$h][$u];
echo $aww_ar[$h][$u];
echo $aww_ar[$h][$u + 1];
echo $aww_ar[$h][$u - 1];
}
}
}
// Write this in simplified form use "foreach"
foreach ($aww_ar as $key=>&$value) {
foreach ($aww_ar[0] as $k=>$v) {
if ($k > 0 && $aww_ar[$key][$k] == $aww_ar[$key][$k - 1] && $aww_ar[$key][$k] == $aww_ar[$key][$k + 1]) {
$aww_ar[$key][$k] = 'X1';
$aww_ar[$key][$k + 1] = 'X1';
$aww_ar[$key][$k - 1] = 'X1';
echo $aww_ar[$key][$k];
echo $aww_ar[$key][$k + 1];
echo $aww_ar[$key][$k - 1];
}
}
}

Answer 2

Ive worked it out a bit with the help of Lopes Wang
<?php
$aww_ar = array();
// Create array
for($y = 0; $y < 9; $y++){
for($x = 0; $x < 9; $x++){
$randomise = rand(1,4);
$aww_ar[$x][$y] = "<td>".$randomise."</td>";
}
}
// Detects matches and marks them with X
foreach ($aww_ar as $key=>&$value) {
foreach ($aww_ar[0] as $k=>$v) {
if ($k > 0 && $aww_ar[$key][$k] == $aww_ar[$key][$k - 1] && $aww_ar[$key][$k] == $aww_ar[$key][$k + 1]) {
$aww_ar[$key][$k] = 'X';
$aww_ar[$key][$k + 1] = 'X';
$aww_ar[$key][$k - 1] = 'X';
}
}
}
echo"<table border='2px;'>";
for($y = 0; $y < 9; $y++){
echo"<tr>";
for($x = 0; $x < 9; $x++){
echo "<td>" .$aww_ar[$x][$y]."</td>";
}
echo"</tr>";
}
echo"</table>";