Eloquent query error

I am getting quite desperate with Laravel 5.4 and Eloquent Query builder. I am trying to retrieve a user by username and password.

I ve following columns in my db: ID, USERNAME, PASSWORD

Following query is working for me:

$user = UserModel::where(['username' => $username])->first();

while this one is not:

$user = UserModel::where(['password' => $password])->first();

I am printing out both $username and $password before the query, and both are exactly what they should be.

What can i possibly do wrong?

via Chebli Mohamed